IFA national livestock committee chairman Michael Doran said to ensure security of payment and the most competitive prices, livestock farmers should sell livestock through their local mart.
“Livestock marts provide farmers with a valuable transparent means of buying and selling cattle together with security of payment,” Mr Doran said. “Security of payment is essential in the current economic climate and marts are required to be in funds at all times for the value of livestock sold.”
He said it is very important farmers insist on payment on the day when selling finished cattle to the factories. He said the factories have given a commitment on payment on the day and it is up to the seller to insist on it.
The IFA livestock chairman said 1.68m cattle were sold through the marts in 2010, including 1,437,000 beef animals and 243,000 dairy animals. In addition, he said there was major potential for marts to increase throughput with the Department of Agriculture AIMS data showing 945,000 animals moving farm to farm.
