Farmers have entered the sixth day of protest against Co Cavan retailers.
According to the Irish Farmers’ Association, which is leading the protests, the spirit of the picketing remains strong.
The pig, poultry and egg producers involved have targeted Aldi and Lidl in Cavan town, to underline their growing concern for the future of the sectors.
Farmers continue to block entry for deliveries to Aldi and Lidl stores, resulting in store shelves currently empty of fresh produce.
IFA poultry vice-president Brendan Soden said there was no end in sight to the protests unless retailers committed to the price increases farmers are seeking.
Mr Soden said unless a 2c per egg is earmarked directly for egg farmers, the supply of Irish eggs will be at risk.
He said a price increase had been offered by egg packers to farmers – but it was only “a third of what farmers needed”.
Speaking from outside Lidl this afternoon, Mr Soden said retailers are “well aware of our situation and what we are looking for”.
He added that entering the sixth day of farmers protesting outside retailers without substantial negotiations taking place “reaches historic levels”.
“If you see the shelves in these stores by the minute, that’s a taste of reality – if there are no farmers, that’s what all the shelves will look like,” said Mr. Soden at .
He said members of the public they have engaged with over the past few days have provided “fantastic support” for farmers, with “hundreds” signing a petition in support of the farmers’ appeal.
“I don’t think retailers realize how willing the public is to pay a little more for eggs if they have to, or if there’s already enough cake for us, that we have to stay here to try. to survive,” Soden continued.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people here on the poultry side who are very heavily in debt, and they fear not only going bankrupt but also losing their farm and their land because they can’t pay the bank. “
He said farmers will stay put at both stores and continue to block delivery access “until we can begin meaningful negotiations”.
Aldi said it was “extremely disappointed” with the IFA protest at its Cavan store.
A spokesman said Aldi had been “in active discussions with our egg suppliers for several weeks now, with a view to agreeing what would be a fourth price increase this year”.
“Saturday [October 1]Discussions continued when a price increase, which far exceeds what the protesting farmers are asking for, was agreed with our egg suppliers.
“It is up to our egg suppliers and the farmers with whom they have a commercial agreement to commit to how this result is distributed.
“The blockade, which has prevented deliveries to stores, has caused real frustration among our customers. Frustrations that we share.
“Stock is not the issue, access is. Our supply trucks are loaded with Irish produce from our Irish suppliers ready to stock the shelves at our Cavan store.
“Unfortunately the blockades prevent this.”
A Lidl spokesman said he would not comment on the matter.
Pig and chicken farmers have been part of the protests to support the egg sector, and also to highlight their continued farm-level losses.
IFA pig chairman Roy Gallie said the continuously mounting losses on pig farms over the past 400 days are “completely unsustainable”.
He told the Irish Examiner that pig farmers are “basically the downfall guys; everyone else’s costs are reduced to us because we are simply price givers and takers and have no control over one or the other”.
The IFA calls on the government to urgently set up a food mediator.
In his speech at Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis last weekend, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Navy Charlie McConalogue confirmed that he had started the process of recruiting the chief executive of the new Office for the fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain. .
“The office will be up and running by the end of the year and will be an office with real teeth that will protect our farming families,” McConalogue said.
“He’ll have real teeth. He’ll protect our farming families.”
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