29th September 2014
Another 1,000 farmers have signed up to ICSA’s campaign threatening withdrawal from the Quality Assurance Scheme, the bulk of these at last week’s National Ploughing Championships.
“This is a hugely impressive figure given the level of detail sought on our petition form, which includes herd number as a verification tool,” said ICSA president Patrick Kent. “This is not a petition that any Tom, Dick or Harry can sign – these are real, Quality Assured farmers involved in suckler or beef production, and to date, 2000 of them have now signed up to our campaign.”
“In addition, approximately 600 people signed our petition calling for a regulator for the meat industry, which is a central plank of ICSA’s policy,” continued Mr. Kent. “If the Minister had heeded our call for such a regulator months ago, we might not find ourselves in this position now.”
“Farmers signed up to Quality Assurance in good faith, with the promise of better markets and better returns for all, especially farmers, but for us, this did not materialise despite all the work we put in to ensure high standards. All kinds of artificial road-blocks have been put in the way of farmers, including the 30-month age limit, the four movements and 70-day residency requirements and ridiculously low age and weight limits for bull beef so is it any wonder that we have had enough?”
“While we are pleased with the number of signatures we have received to date, we intend to harness the farmer anger and disillusionment with the Quality Assurance Scheme, which was very obvious at the Ploughing Championships last week, to make it very clear to processors and retailers that farmers have had enough. We are currently examining various avenues for expanding our campaign to reach as many beef and suckler farmers as possible. The petition continues to be available for signing online on our website, www.icsaireland.com,” concluded Mr. Kent.
