Disagreement between the IFA and the ICMSA erupted yesterday after the presentation of the Government's partnership negotiating document, which shocked farmers' representatives.
A statement from the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Mr Pat O'Rourke, announced "the suspension of the talks with support from the other farm organisations".
However, late last night a spokesman for the Irish Farmers' Association said the talks had not been suspended, and the ICMSA had no right to say they had. He said a strand of the talks had continued with both the ICMSA and IFA involved.
The spokesman said the IFA was making contact with the chairman of the talks, Mr Dermot McCarthy, to clarify the situation.
Mr O'Rourke said when he had read the Government's document he had been angry, and he had told the chairman to suspend the talks until the Government came back with a reasonable document. The other organisations had appeared to agree with this.
During the session it emerged that the farm organisations were told there was no possibility of the Government reversing its decision to impose an additional €10 million animal disease levy this year.
The IFA is understood to have demanded a reversal of the €200 million in additional costs and cuts imposed in December's budget and taken out of the estimates.
According to Mr O'Rourke, the document presented yesterday appeared to want to take more money from the farming sector by phasing out the €45 million in supports to the beef market for rendering and destruction of bonemeal created by the BSE crisis in 2000.
"The level of this contribution has been progressively reduced to encourage and reflect efficiencies in the handling and disposal arrangements, and this process of gradually phasing out such supports shall conclude shortly," the Government's document stated.
Mr O'Rourke said it was clear these costs would be passed back to the farmer, and this was unacceptable.
The Government document made a commitment to farm families through the maintenance of an agriculture which was "profitable, competitive, innovative and sustainable".
It recognises the need for the retention of the maximum practical number of farm families "in the context of the EU model of multifunctionality".
It also recognises:
2002 was a difficult year for farmers though a combination of poor weather and reduced product prices;
the consequential reduction in farm incomes, particularly in the case of part-time farmers;
income from traditional farming alone may not ensure the long-term viability of some farms; and
the need for additional sources of income in rural areas to support smaller farmers.