Wales-Cattle market cancels sales over BSE charges.

WALES-A LIVESTOCK market stand-off between auctioneers and abattoirs continued this week, with Farmers’ Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan backing the decision by Pembrokeshire auctioneers JJ Morris to cancel a red market – straight to slaughter – sale at Whitland.

Mr Vaughan called on farmers and auctioneers to stand firm against what he called aggressive moves by processors and supermarkets to pass their overheads on to farmers via the auction markets.

Since the beginning of the year the industry has had to pay to test cattle for mad cow disease. The Government passed the cost of the brain stem test – about £15 an animal – to the industry as part of cost-cutting measures.

The abattoirs want the auctioneers to deduct £7.50 from the sale price and hand it over to them, but most are refusing.

"It’s clearly an abattoir operating cost," said Livestock Auctioneers Association executive secretary Chris Dodds.

But one market has decided to make the charge. Auctioneers Williams and Watkins said they made their decision after consulting the farmers that use the Ross-on-Wye mart – but the firm itself is paying the fee.

Last Wednesday’s Whitland sale would have involved the sale of 120 cattle from farms under TB restrictions. But with abattoir buyers now increasingly boycotting markets, many cattle could have been left in limbo, unsold and unable to return to the farm.

"The cancellation of Wednesday’s red market at Whitland comes as a huge blow to Welsh farms that are under TB restrictions and had animals booked in to the sale," said Mr Vaughan.

"These businesses need to move animals off their holdings as soon as possible in order to alleviate the huge pressures that accompany TB movement restrictions, and the decision will add to the problems in the area."

Mr Vaughan said any moves by abattoirs and supermarkets to levy farmers should be resisted.

"The bottom line is that this is a public health issue, and should either be picked up by government or passed down the chain to supermarkets and other customers. It is disgraceful that the supermarkets and abattoirs may make the TB situation worse with tactics that are effectively designed to drive farmgate prices down."

The prevalence of bTB was one reason why Ross-on-Wye auctioneers reluctantly broke ranks with other livestock marts. "If we had a good store section and we did not have a TB problem in the area we would not be doing this," said Jeremy Jehan of the auctioneers Williams and Watkins.

He said the company would have joined the stand-off if the weekly red market had not been its only business at Ross-on-Wye.

"It’s crucial for us because if we did not have the fatstock sale the place would shut," he said.

The decision to carry on trading was made after canvassing farmers who used the weekly mart. "Our policy was to stay with the Livestock Auctioneers Association and not to dock any money from farmers," he said.

"We were specifically told by the farmers that they wanted to sell their animals and they were happy for the deduction to be made."

But Mr Jehan said the company has decided to pick up the charge itself. "We are going to take the knock ourselves until this is sorted out and we believe the LAA and the abattoirs should be talking to each other to resolve this."

Mr Jehan said he thought the answer could be for auctioneers to take one penny per kilogram from the sale price, but he said the two sides now appeared entrenched.

"That charge will eventually have to be paid by the farmer. It’s just a question of how you dress it up. But if this goes on for a long time it will be chaotic," he said.

"It’s a difficult position for us because we have to do our best for farmers and for the abattoirs, but we have been branded the black sheep by the LAA."

But the abattoirs have turned out in force. Mr Jehan said the sale last week had attracted many of the major processors and prices reflected their presence.

Cull cows reached a maximum of 182p/kg and an average of 135.50 last week compared with a maximum and average of 122.7p/kg the previous Monday. Throughput was also up, with 276 entries compared with 208 the previous week.