Poultry farmers holding Cavan protest

Rising costs have hit the sector in recent months.

Local poultry producers are to protest at Cavan supermarkets this morning in a bid to safeguard "the survival of the sector".

They'll gather at 11am at the Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes and SuperValu supermarkets to highlight rising costs and the need for higher prices.

Monaghan farmer and IFA Poultry Chairman Andy Boylan said, “poultry growers are caught in a classic cost-price squeeze that has to be addressed urgently. Retailers cannot rely on producers to keep going in this situation”.

The organisation claims family farms that produce Bord Bia Quality Assured chicken and eggs have seen their costs of production increase at "an unprecedented rate" in the past year.

Inflation has seen the cost of gas, electricity, animal feed and labour increase at a rate the IFA says has not been "witnessed by the sector in half a generation".

Vice Chairman of the Poultry Committee Brendan Soden said "farmers are very concerned about their future. The EU average price for eggs has increased by 13.2%. However, Ireland is one of only two member states where the price has decreased by 8.4% in the past 12 months, while feed costs are up 36% on last year. This is simply unsustainable".