Beef farmers will today picket virtually all the meat factories in the State and withhold cattle for processing in a dispute over who will pay increased veterinary inspection charges at meat plants.
Almost 40 meat plants will be blockaded by members of the Irish Farmers' Association, which yesterday failed to reach agreement with the Irish Meat Association on the issue.
The plants had sought to pass on the veterinary inspection fee increase of £5.50 to the producers, who had been paying £3.75 in inspection fees up to now.
Yesterday, the increased fees being charged by the Department of Agriculture were passed on to the producers by the factories.
The IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, said that along with the picketing and withholding of cattle, it would be challenging the matter in the courts.
The challenge would be based on the fact that the factories had agreed the increase between them last week and this was a breach of the competition laws.
A meeting of producers was held in Portlaoise at the weekend and farmers demanded that there be no increase in the inspection fees, which they claimed were illegal on competition grounds.
At that meeting Mr Parlon pledged to fight the fees being passed on to producers and demanded that the factories pay 90p per lb for beef.
He said yesterday the IFA would resist the imposition of the levy and would go to the courts later today to challenge the move by the factories.
The latest figures available show that the meat plants passed back fees of £14.1 million to the Department, but that the inspection service had cost £23.8 million.