Suckler PGI and TB top of the agenda
ICSA Wicklow chair Tom Stephenson has insisted there is an urgent need for a coherent marketing strategy for Irish suckler beef while speaking at an online meeting of Wicklow ICSA last Wednesday.
‘ The ICSA wants to see segmentation of the market whereby suckler beef is developed as a special high value product, and the way to achieve that is with a suckler based application for EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI),’ said Mr Stephenson, a suckler farmer from Donard.
He continued: ‘ICSA was the first farm organisation to propose PGI status for suckler beef and continues to be the only farm organisation actively arguing unequivocally for PGI to be for suckler beef only. The logic is clear: in order to get a premium price, you must have differentiation. The very definition of the word premium suggests that not all beef can be defined as premium.’
The meeting also heard from ICSA Animal Health and Welfare chair Hugh Farrell, who gave an update on the current situation around TB. Mr Farrell said farmers in Wicklow have been amongst the hardest hit when it comes to TB and the Department’s failure to tackle the root causes.
He said: ‘ The TB Forum will resume on Thursday, 1 October, and ICSA will be look
ing for answers about why the Department have moved to an unreliable programme of badger vaccination over culling and why they are refusing to take the problems caused by diseased wild deer seriously. On the issue of deer, ICSA believes that Coillte has a significant role to play also with regards to fencing off deer, and we will be continuing to push for this.’
In relation to the recent issuing of controversial TB Herd History Risk Statements, Mr Farrell said: ‘ There can be no doubt that all of this information floating around has the potential to seriously distort the markets. Herd owners are reeling that their stock has potentially been devalued and all of this has been done in the absence of any revised compensation measures to mitigate the impact. ICSA has advised farmers to ignore these letters and will be looking to Minister McConalogue to sort out this fiasco at the TB Forum.’
ICSA sheep chair Sean McNamara gave an overview of the association’s efforts to have the Sheep Welfare Scheme rolled over into next year and for the payment to be increased substantially. He also spoke about an ICSA initiative that is charting a way forward for the wool sector, with a specific focus on increasing the potential of the wool industry and increasing the return to sheep farmers for their wool.
During the meeting, Mr Stephenson was re-elected as ICSA Wicklow County chair. Also elected to positions on ICSA’s Wicklow National Executive were Mervyn Sunderland from Redcross, Seamus Brady from Shamore and Joe O’Toole from Kilpeddar.
Mr Stephenson thanked all those who tuned into the online meeting, many of who were experimenting with the format for the first time.
At the end of the meeting, he commented: ‘We are operating under challenging circumstances but with the help of a bit of technology we had a great meeting.’