Dear Farmer,

My name is Declan Molloy, I am the national secretary for the recently formed group the Beef Plan Movement. A little bit about the group; earlier last year a group of already well organised beef farmers decided out of desperation that the only way to secure a sustainable future for beef farming in Ireland was to unite farmers around a plan for beef. They had watched their beef enterprises become less sustainable year after year and it came to the point where they realized that if they did nothing their beef farms simply had no future. A couple of months and approximately 18 drafts later a plan was fully agreed upon and signed off on by the almost 250 beef farmers that contributed to it. This was a major milestone for Irish beef farming as for the first time ever we beef farmers have a plan for beef.

The plan’s objectives centre around (but go far beyond) the following:
• Regaining control of an animal from birth to slaughter and beyond;
• Returning a cost of production price plus a margin as a minimum; and
• Regaining respect within the beef industry.
In summary the areas covered by the 86 point plan include:
• Getting a sustainable price for our beef
• Setting up purchasing and producer groups
• Implementing changes around animal health, farm safety, government schemes and farm unions
• Marketing and selling our own beef directly

Since the inception of the plan a lot of work has taken place in particular in relation to recruiting committee members and farmers. On the committee side the group is comprised entirely of volunteer beef farmers representing every county in Ireland and each county has representatives on the national committee that jointly make the decisions. Furthermore we are currently rolling out fully elected county committees in each county. We believe this strong foundation is essential in order to ensure we work through the plan together and secure a sustainable future for beef farming in Ireland. The plan includes getting at least 40000 farmers engaged and at present in just a few short weeks we have reached almost 15000 beef farmers. We invite all farmers involved in beef production whether their primary enterprise is dairy, suckler or other to get involved and register with us. We believe that every beef farmer should be involved as it is only through uniting that we can change and improve beef farming in Ireland.

To view upcoming meetings, contact us, find more information about the group or read the plan please visit our website: www.beefplan.ie

Thank you, Kind Regards, Declan Molloy

If you would like to join the Beef Plan Movement, please click on the link below for a copy of the Registration form.

BEEF PLAN MOVEMENT Registration Form

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0s9S5YYOkk

Dear Members,

Yet another year is drawing to a close for us all.  2018 has been a difficult year in many ways for farmers, and even though the summer was favorable, that too came with its own problems in some parts of the Country.

Throughout all of the uncertainty that has been carried through most forms of media, the ONE certainty is the ever-growing demand for Charolais in both the commercial and pedigree sales rings. You have all as breeders contributed to that, and for your on-going work and support I would like to say thank you on behalf of myself and all council members.

As a council working with your Secretary Nevan, we do what we can to reduce costs on every member, whether it is the reduction in the registration and female transfer fees, the re-introduction of de-registration’s, and now the Society has purchased a young bull in France, whose semen will be made available to members at cost price. Collectively these saving's will make a difference to us all.  We will continue to look for more new bloodlines that will enhance our gene pool here in Ireland.

On a promotional note, the National Show held in conjunction with the National Livestock Show in Tullamore, once again this year proved to be a real spectacle of the quality you as breeders are producing.  It is a stand-out shop window that I have no doubt has drawn customers to our sales rings.

The nationwide sponsorship of CHX weanling sales has been very well received this year with an obvious gap appearing between Charolais and everything else sold through the ring.

The Elite Heifer Sale held in November surpassed all expectations for the demand on females.  The quality on offer was exceptional this year and the figures for the sale back that up.

I would like to congratulate Nicole Mc Padden on winning the Marketing Competition ran by the ICCS this year and wish her well with her pedigree Charolais heifer. It is important that we utilise the brains of our youth and take on-board their ideas.  After all, they are the future.

Sales have gained momentum during the Autumn with the Christmas Cracker being the pinnacle of that.  The standard of bulls on offer was tremendous and the demand for quality achieved a 74% clearance rate this year, again surpassing all other breeds.  Tuam was once again a successful sale in 2018 and we are also exploring the possibilities for new sales venues going forward.

Earlier in 2018, myself and a delegation from council met with the EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, and on the back of that meeting managed to be invited to the Oireachtas where we were given the opportunity to voice and highlight some of the concerns relating to the BDGP scheme, one being the fact that cross bred bulls are allowed to be used in the scheme, reducing the need for pedigree bulls.  We also highlighted the decrease in the number of R & U grade cattle in the factories, and the concerns at the decline been seen in the number of suckler cows in the country with breeders having to cull quality females due to their figures.  These concerns had been voiced by both Charolais breeders and suckler farmers alike.

Of late, the newly formed Beef Plan Movement has been and will continue to be a voice for the suckler and beef producers of the country.  The ICCS was the first breed society to publicly endorse this group.  We can only hope that every farming organisation gets behind this group voluntarily and gives them the much-needed support they deserve.

Lastly, I want to thank both ICCS staff and council members for their help and support during 2018, as well as you the members that make up our Society.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, peaceful Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.

Kevin Maguire,

Society President.