Ireland Cattle Price
Real prices, reported by farmers
Real prices, reported by farmers
Ireland is at risk of becoming dependent on a single operator for livestock transport access to continental Europe.
Brittany Ferries has stated that its withdrawal from live-animal transport will be completed by 1 September 2026 at the latest. IrelandCattlePrice.com has submitted a formal request to the Irish Government and European Commission seeking an urgent, lawful and welfare-compliant livestock transport resilience plan.
This is not a request to favour or rescue any particular ferry company. It is a request to protect competitive market access for Irish farmers through an operator-neutral contingency arrangement.
Download the formal policy requestPDF · opens in a new tabOne of the central welfare questions around long-distance transport is how unweaned calves can be fed appropriately during the journey. Instead of simply defending the existing system, ICP is asking whether Ireland could help develop and independently test a better one.
The concept is a purpose-designed calf transporter that could provide warm milk or milk replacer through calf-appropriate teat systems, supported by ventilation, temperature and environmental monitoring, CCTV, GPS and journey-time records, alarms, hygienic cleaning systems and digital records showing when feed was made available.
ICP is not proposing to engineer or technically lead this project. Brendan Kennedy's role is as the farmer initiator and ICP evidence/communications partner. We are looking for an experienced project lead — ideally from Teagasc, UCD, another research institution, an EIP-AGRI Operational Group or an organisation experienced in European agricultural innovation — to assess whether the concept has merit and, if so, build the proper consortium.
The starting concept is a specialist multi-deck vehicle, with capacity determined only after engineering, legal floor-space, headroom, ventilation, axle-weight and veterinary assessment. The objective is not to maximise the number of calves carried. It is to determine whether a transport system can provide the nutrition, environmental conditions and auditable monitoring required for demonstrably better welfare.
The European Commission's 2023 proposal for new animal-transport rules — which is a proposal, not current law — specifically envisages approved onboard feeding systems capable of providing unweaned animals with species-specific milk or milk replacer at body temperature. Ireland's CAP EIP-AGRI framework is also designed to bring groups together to develop and test innovative solutions, including animal health and welfare challenges.
If you have experience capable of leading this project, could participate as a research or technical partner, or can introduce ICP to somebody who should be involved, please get in touch.
Lead or participate in the projectEmail Brendan Kennedy at IrelandCattlePrice.comOfficial background: European Commission animal-transport proposal · Ireland CAP EIP-AGRI Operational Groups.
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Last updated: 8 August 2026