Farmers in Fermanagh have been leading a Province-wide campaign opposing a plan by meat plants to introduce financial penalties for cattle who do not conform to strict specifications which they plan to introduce.

The Northern Ireland Meat Exporters’ Association, the umbrella group for meat plants announced in February that in-spec cattle would not have been on more than four farms, that they were less than 30 days in the previous herd and that they would penalise cattle which were non-UK born with other penalties for weights and ages.

The SDA Support Group, born out of meeting of 700 farmers in Derrygonnelly in January, has been working on a number of issues in addition to the CAP reforms since then and have engaged with other supportive organisations across Northern Ireland to lobby strongly on issues which affect and concern their members.

Over the past number of weeks, the group has co-ordinated a campaign inviting farmers to sign a petition again the meat plants’ move. By the end of last week, it had grown to 9,000 names.

Peter Gallagher, Chairman of the SDA group, said the new proposals by the meat plants would affect mart business and rural life for many smaller farmers.

“The four moves rule we feel is setting a precedent as four will become two and it is just the thin end of the wedge. This has happened in the Republic and it has had an adverse effect. The meat plants say it is the supermarkets who pushing this but Asda don’t demand it although M & S say they do,” said Peter.

James Johnston, a director of the Ulster Farmers’ Mart, one of about 14 marts across Northern Ireland where the petitions have been signed, said: “No-one has held up any good reasons why this rule is being enforced. There are implications for marts over the four months rule and also that cattle had to be 30 days in the previous herd.

“We had 70-80 fat cows in the mart and the majority will be brought to the factory in the next week. A substantial number of bullocks and heifers will be brought to the factory within weeks of leaving here,” he said.

“Any cattle going to supermarkets are only FQAS cattle and you will not get a higher specification, There is no need for penalties for over four moves. Traceability is the key and we have the highest standards in the world,” he added.

James added: “We see it discriminating against the small farmers and it is setting a precedent against the four moves. 95 per cent of stock meet that requirement. It’s a case of enough is enough.” Marts are seen as competition for the meat plants where larger finishers have to secure extra stock to meet contracts. Smaller producers feel they get a better price through the live sales than going directly to the factory. James says farmers also see the mart sales as being fully transparent and if they were not happy with the price, they could bring their animal home again.

Peter Gallagher says the whole fabric of rural life in Fermanagh would be severely affected if small farmers were not allowed to continue to farm and the proposals had the potential of closing small marts in Northern Ireland He said: “ Many farmers are not set up to rear calves and finish them on the same farm. The average size of the cattle herd here is 15.6.” He said the meat plants had done a U-turn on the £150 penalty as a flat rate penalty but they were likely to introduce the reductions through a pence per kilo basis.

Regarding the petition, Peter said, “We have had an excellent response from all marts.” James added, “They(SDA group) have done an excellent job and have taken their case to Stormont.” The Livestock and Meat Commission reported that the meat plants would not make any immediate change to in-spec incentives for beef farmers.

A spokesman stated: “It was suggested that the current 8-14p per kg bonus for in-spec cattle would be absorbed into the base quote and that out of spec cattle could be penalised up to £150 per head. These plans have been the cause of contention over the last six weeks particularly those proposals that relate to standstill and the number of farm residencies. There appears to be no immediate prospect of £150 penalties on cattle that have exceeded the number of residencies or not completed the required standstill. However LMC understands that most factories remain intent on reducing the volume of out-of-spec cattle. Questions remain about the timing of any such changes and how such penalties/incentives are to be applied at each plant.”