ICSA sheep chair, Sean McNamara, has called on the Department of Agriculture to publish the number of lambs that have been imported from the north and Great Britain since the beginning of 2020.
“These imports are causing huge disruption for local farmers who can’t even get quotes for lambs while they see truckloads of lambs arriving on UK-registered lorries. It’s a disgrace,” he said.
“Processors are constantly playing a numbers game with their suppliers and are using these imported lambs to keep prices down.”
The farm organisation said that it understands that at one factory in Leinster yesterday (Tuesday, June 23rd), one-third of the lambs being processed are from England or the north.
“This has to stop if sheep farmers are to have any hope of covering their cost of production.”
“As it currently stands, many sheep farmers can see no point in continuing to produce lambs when they are being consistently undermined by the influx of imported lambs.”
“Week after week they see their hard work and effort amounting to nothing, while processors pull all the strings. This is causing untold frustration amongst farmers who just want to be treated fairly, and why we need clarity on how many lambs are coming in, and why.” he concluded.
