A radical restructuring package is proposed to save the Island’s Meat Plant from looming closure, maintain supplies of locally produced meat and secure the future of the livestock industry. The proposal, unveiled today (Thursday, October 6, 2011), would enable the plant to take a more commercial approach and focus on marketing quality Manx produce to the consumer. The Meat Plant is run by the Fatstock Marketing Association (FMA), a farmers’ co-operative organisation, under the 1934 Agricultural Marketing Act. Despite recent major cost-cutting and ongoing Government subsidy the plant has continued to struggle financially and its Directors have advised the company is facing insolvency within six months. The plan is to wind up the FMA and transfer the plant to a new Government backed company, which would not be bound by the constraints of the pre-war legislation, allowing it to be far more responsive to consumer needs. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) is backing the proposal in order to ensure a seamless transition for customers. DEFA is fully prepared to continue supporting the plant from the Agricultural Development Fund during its transition to the new commercial structure. The alternative, enforced closure of the plant would mean a dramatic, unplanned change to the livestock industry, an end to Manx meat in local shops, an increase in live animal exports to UK markets, and the loss of an area of local manufacturing employment. FMA representative Scott Baker explained: ‘In the past year the Meat Plant has made real progress in cutting costs and improving quality. However, recent extreme market conditions have driven up prices for livestock to unprecedented levels, while the FMA remains obliged to accept all animals at any time whatever their quality; this causes supply issues that threaten the plant’s continued existence. Our responses to these market threats are severely limited by a legal framework created nearly 80 years ago. If Manx meat is to have a future we need a marketing structure designed for the satisfaction of consumers in the 21st century. Agriculture Minister John Shimmin commented, ‘The Island’s taxpayers cannot be expected to continue supporting a meat marketing system that does not meet consumer’s needs, equally we have to recognise that closure of the Meat Plant would be a major blow to farming, industry and the Manx countryside. ‘The way forward is to modernise the operation of the plant so that it can provide better value for the taxpayer’s investment, better quality for the consumer, and a better future for the farmers. It is of critical importance that both local farmers and consumers support the new company, without them it will not succeed.’ Ends