Farmer anger mounts at Bord Bia over handling of PGI bid

IFA council members call for motion of no confidence in agency chief Tara McCarthy

There were calls last week by some members of the IFA national council for a motion of no confidence in Bord Bia boss Tara McCarthy. It’s understood at least six members of IFA national council called for a motion of no confidence in McCarthy and Bord Bia, after it emerged there is no farmer representation on a Bord Bia beef Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which works on the Bord Bia grass-fed standard.

This was developed by Bord Bia to market Irish beef and includes beef from young bulls.

However, it is taking the marketing of grass-fed another step further, with an application for an EU Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) for grass-fed beef, but this PGI does not include young bull beef, and according to farming organisations will allow the inclusion of most dairy-derived beef.

Postponed

This has angered farming organisations, and a Beef Taskforce meeting scheduled for last week was postponed after it became apparent that all the farm organisations were not in support of the current PGI proposal.

Last week at an IFA national council meeting, president Tim Cullinan listed the names on the TAC. The absence of farmer representation on the TAC combined with the omission of young bull beef from the PGI application led to calls for a motion of no confidence in McCarthy and Bord Bia from the floor.

However, it’s understood the motion was not put to the floor for a vote, with Cullinan saying he would raise the concerns with Bord Bia.

The TAC committee as listed by Cullinan includes Philip Carroll (Meat Industry Ireland); Rory Fanning (Slaney Foods); Tom Moran (former Department of Agriculture Secretary General); Dave O’Connell (ABP); Martin Kane (ABP); Mick O’Dowd (Kepak); Joe Ryan (MII); Laurence Shaloo (Teagasc dairy research officer); and Conor O’Mahony (Department of Agriculture milk policy division).

In a statement to the Farming Independent, Bord Bia said under the Quality Assurance programme the TAC exists to review the technical requirements of the relevant scheme’s standard.

“There is a grass-fed standard

TAC for dairy and a grass-fed standard TAC for beef, comprising representatives from industry, Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture.

“These advisory committees were not involved with the development of the draft PGI application.”

The grass-fed standards set out the systems required for processing plants to be certified under the standard, Bord Bia also confirmed.

“The principle behind the development of the grass-fed standard was that the farm-level information used in the grass-fed models was drawn from data already collected through Bord Bia SBLAS audits farm audits and therefore didn’t place any additional data burden on farmers.

“For this reason, there were no farmer representatives on either the grass-fed dairy or beef TAC. However, there was ongoing consultation with farm organisations during their development.

“There are farmer representatives on Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Board and on each TAC that reviews livestock standards against which farmers are audited and certified under.”

Concerns:

Farmer anger centres on the PGI status for grass-fed suckler beef

A Bord Bia spokesperson added: “Farmer engagement is a priority for Bord Bia and we take the views and concerns of our farmer members very seriously. Bord Bia works tirelessly to engage constructively with farm organisations.

“The goal from the beginning has been to develop the best possible PGI application to put before the European Commission.

“Bord Bia remain open to continued dialogue in order to progress the PGI application and potentially deliver a unique premium position for Irish grass-fed beef for the benefit of Irish farmers.”