Production will resume later today at the six AIBP meat factories, which were the focus of an IFA protest from late Sunday until 4 p.m. yesterday.
While both sides will meet informally at the Ploughing Championships during the next few days, the IFA is expected to escalate the dispute next week, extending the protest to plants other than AIBP-controlled premises.
The IFA president, Mr John Dillon, said the weekend protest was the first stage in a more intensive campaign to secure viable prices for livestock farmers. "Cattle farmers are determined to expose the unjustified beef price cuts of the last eight to 10 weeks by the factories and secure a reasonable return for their livestock."
As the farmers withdrew from the plants, Mr Dillon attempted to contradict details put foward by the Irish Meat Association in a full-page advertisement in The Irish Times yesterday.
This accused the IFA of misleading farmers into believing artificially high prices could be sustained, adding that 90 per cent of cattle slaughtered in Ireland have to be sold to export markets which determine the price.
The 10-point message, "Facts about the Market for Irish Beef", said there had been a 30 per cent increase in the commercial kill and the average prices farmers were receiving this year was 2 per cent up on last year, when a special Purchase for Destruction scheme was in operation.
Dealing with the lifting of the ban by Russia on six Irish counties, it added this did not mean that Russia would buy more Irish beef or paying higher prices.
It said the majority of beef destined for the UK market was going into wholesale or manufacturing areas against stiff competition from South American beef, and British beef production was set to increase this year.
It added that market access difficulties increase when slaughterings increase, as they had done here in the last few weeks to over 40,000 animals a week. Urgent action was required to reopen international markets outside the EU.
Processing costs, said the IMA, had increased by €76 per head since 1999, amounting to 25cent/kg.
Finally, it said factory prices paid for cattle could not be looked at in isolation because returns to farmers comprised both factory price and premiums, which in some cases amounted to €520 on bullocks. These direct payments had increased by 24c/kg on top of the 2 per cent increase in factory prices, representing a 7.2 per cent increase in overall returns to the farmer.
The IFA president said by its own admission, the IMA document was a "charter for failure for the Irish beef industry", and beef factories seemed incapable of marketing Irish beef at viable price levels.
UK and Continental demand for beef remained strong and the Russian market was due to improve. Mr Dillon accused the factories of taking €222 per animal of the farmers' premium payment, leaving uneconomic margins.