A number of important issues affecting farmers across the county have been raised with Minister Mary Coughlan by the Donegal branch of the ICSA recently.

The meeting was attended by ICSA president Malcolm Thompson, John Barron, who is the Ulster Connaught vice president, Brendan McLaughlin, the Donegal county chairman and Austin Stevenson, co-ordinator of the Donegal Quality Beef Producers Group, amongst others.

Top of the agenda was the possibility of extending the 30 month rule on BSE testing out to 36 months. An ICSA spokesperson said: "This would lessen the financial burden on farmers as many cattle born in the spring of 2004 would be heading to the factories at this time and would miss the deadline by a matter of weeks, and sometimes days. Pushing out the deadline, when cases of BSE are in steep decline, would make the trade at this time of year more orderly."

The continuing problems associated with live export of lamb and cattle in the border regions was also raised with the Minister.

"Lambs that are sent to a local factory that may only be a couple of miles away but are across the border are often delayed by up to 24 hours. This is both distressing for the animal and can have a very negative affect on the kill out weight, in some cases up to 2kgs," added the spokesperson.

On especially topical issue which was discussed was the upper limit of ¤120,000 on the 'Farm Waste Management Scheme'. According to the ICSA, the limit is felt to be too low for many farmers

The delegation welcomed the Minister's commitment to funding for suckler cows, but raised concerns that it might lead to more bureaucracy, more inspections and may well be seen as a move back towards coupled payments. The ICSA also asked the minister to review the current evaluation of suckler cow TB reactors to reflect current prices.