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Live weighing of cattle in beef factories ‘brushed under carpet'
Live weighing of cattle in beef factories ‘brushed under carpet'

Irish Independent

timea day ago

  • General
  • Irish Independent

Live weighing of cattle in beef factories ‘brushed under carpet'

The Irish Beef Sector Agreement, which followed the 2019 beef protests, states that 'lairage weighing services will be provided on request, which may incur a nominal charge'. However, none of the farm organisations contacted by the Farming Independent are aware of any processor currently offering this service, while the IBLA (Irish Beef and Lamb Association) claimed its 'members have required live weighing in lairages but have been told that their plant doesn't provide this service'. Corley said: 'I've never seen it rolled out in any factory, but over the years, there have been a number of requests as to why this wasn't implemented. 'Our understanding was that it would be implemented, but like that, a lot of things were supposed to happen since 2019. In general, not a whole lot has improved from the power situations that factories had at the time of the agreement to what they have now. There hasn't been a whole lot of improvement or transparency.' He said, 'there is very little transparency once cattle leave farmers for the factory', but live weighing would 'help keep factories in check' and leave farmers 'better equipped to make calculations'. 'Having an animal's live weight could be a useful tool for farmers, especially to compare kill-out percentages between factories.' KO percentage is the carcass weight expressed as a percentage of the animal's liveweight. It is influenced by several factors, including genetics, sex, feeding system, carcass weight and conformation (cattle in Ireland are graded under the EUROP system). Industry estimates suggest that cows generally have the lowest KO%, typically ranging from 46-58pc. Bulls tend to have the highest (50-64pc), while steers range from 48-60pc and heifers from 48-59pc. Across all categories, better conformation usually results in higher KO%. Corley said: 'For example, if one group of bullocks killed out at 58pc in one factory, and a similar group killed out at 54pc in another, farmers could legitimately question the difference. 'Farmers would have a suspicion about factories and the amount of trim. I am sure factories could put a live weighing scales on the main crush.' ICSA beef chair John Cleary said its members would see live weighing as a 'very positive step forward' in providing up-to-date information, especially in the area of kill-out percentages. 'Farmers would benefit hugely from extra relevant feedback from processors to better their business,' he said. The IBLA said: 'The service has not been found to have been made available to its members or beef producers in general. 'Without a forum in place, there is no reporting to confirm if the weighing facilities have been provided.' 'Suppliers are entitled to the choice, and meat processing factories must honour the Irish Beef Sector Agreement. IBLA has written to the minister to query why Irish meat processing companies had not complied with certain conditions of the agreement.' ICMSA livestock committee chair Michael O'Connell said it is not an issue being brought up by members, but rather grading and the Quality Payment Scheme, which has been 'proved to be biased against dairy beef cattle'. 'ICMSA believes that there are much more important issues requiring attention, particularly the long-overdue reform of the beef price grid.'

IBLA calls for biosecurity review due to bluetongue risk
IBLA calls for biosecurity review due to bluetongue risk

Agriland

time20-05-2025

  • Health
  • Agriland

IBLA calls for biosecurity review due to bluetongue risk

The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) is calling for a review of biosecurity at all entry points into Ireland due to the risk posed by bluetongue. The chair of the association's suckler committee, John O'Reilly has urged Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon to conduct the review as soon as possible. 'This is to ensure that the insect borne viral disease bluetongue is prevented from entering our national herds of cattle, sheep and other ruminant animals as with higher temperatures and good weather the risk increases. 'While beef and sheep farmers are currently receiving an improved share of the market value of their product, such a disease would affect the live exports currently underpinning the fairer returns across the trade,' he said. 'If bluetongue was to come in here it would absolutely decimate us, it would be game over. So we're just asking the minister to double down on his efforts to make sure, as is humanly possible, that this doesn't come into the country, ' he added. O'Reilly pointed to the 'ever increasing level' of bluetongue disease in the UK. He urged Minister Heydon to 'engage robustly' with his Northern Ireland counterpart, Minister Andrew Muir 'to ensure the whole of Ireland remains a bluetongue free island'. 'This is a whole island approach. We're trying to keep bluetongue off of the island of Ireland. The midge doesn't respect borders,' he said 'Beef and sheep farmers would be very concerned about this, this midge seems to thrive on the rising temperatures and seems to be able to spread a lot more easily,' O'Reilly added. Bluetongue In response to parliamentary questions, Minister Heydon previously stated that he has 'collaborated very closely' with Minister Muir on a range of disease threats, including bluetongue. 'Bluetongue is prevalent in England and is it a very major concern for us as we head into the time of year when its risk of spread by midges increases. The island of Ireland is one epidemiological unit. 'Diseases and animals do not know where an invisible border is and therefore we work very closely with our counterparts,' he said. Minister Heydon said that he takes the threat of bluetongue virus (BTV) 'very seriously', adding that there are 'enhanced biosecurity measures' at Irish ports for vehicles coming in. 'My department carries out post-entry sampling of all ruminant animals and camelids from mainland Europe for BTV regardless of the bluetongue status of the country of origin. 'This mitigates the risk of the disease being inadvertently imported with live animals,' he said. 'The EU TRACES system indicates that no such animals have entered Ireland from mainland Europe this year. 'No susceptible species have been permitted to be imported into Ireland from Great Britain since late 2023, when the first cases of bluetongue serotype 3 occurred in England,' the minister added. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has also carried out 'active surveillance' for bluetongue in the country, along with testing malformed foetuses as this can be an early indication of infection in a herd or flock. 'We are doing everything we can to protect Ireland from what is a notifiable disease that would have a big impact on our trade,' Heydon said.

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