Gardaí took the names of 70 protesters, including that of the IFA President, Mr John Dillon, and former Fine Gael TD Mr Gerry Reynolds, during a tense stand-off at a Teagasc farm in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, yesterday.
The group was trying to prevent the removal of cattle from the farm. Some 25 uniformed gardaí warned the protesters they were breaking the law by preventing a lorry entering the farm.
Riot squad gardaí had been drafted into Ballinamore in the event of trouble but they were not brought to the scene of the blockade.
Yesterday was the third day of what has become known as the "Siege of Ballinamore", where a local action committee made up of farmers and other business interests, are opposing the sale of what was once Teagasc's foremost wetland dairy research unit.
Last May the cash-starved agriculture and food development authority ordered the sale of the farm, with its 70 acres and herd of more than 70 dairy cattle.
Yesterday it intended to move 40 of the animals to its experimental farm in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, but the protest by local people, backed by the IFA President, prevented the move.
A truck had arrived to carry out the job on Monday night.
A Teagasc spokesman alleged that the driver had been intimidated into leaving without moving the animals off the farm.
Yesterday, as the gardaí sought a replacement lorry, Mr Austin Quinn, the spokesman for the local action group, denied there was any intimidation of the lorry driver on Tuesday night.
He said that local farmers and business people were making their own statement about what was happening to Leitrim and they were not going to allow the closure of the farm, which would see five full-time jobs go.
The IFA President, Mr Dillon, who linked arms with the protesters, who told gardaí they would lie down in front of any vehicle attempting to enter the farm, said Teagasc was abandoning the west of Ireland and its small farmers.
He said no dairy research on conventional farming was being carried out in the west and the conditions in Ballinamore were unique and could not be replicated elsewhere in the country.
Garda Supt Hugh Coll, Ballyconnell Garda Station, warned the protesters, who numbered about 150, that if they failed to allow the vehicle into the yard, they would be in breach of the Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act, and they could face further charges.
Last night Teagasc again complained about intimidation at the farm and said it was pressing ahead with its plans to sell the farm.
A spokesman made it clear that all the organisation wished to do was to move animals from one Teagasc farm to another.