Retailers have been called on to pay a higher price per egg to producers, to help alleviate the cost pressures that poultry farmers are currently facing, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has announced.
Chairman of the IFA’s Poultry Committee Nigel Sweetnam has called on retailers “to pass back 2c per egg immediately, to be ringfenced for producers”.
Egg producers attended an IFA meeting in Co. Cavan this week where they voiced their concerns on the mounting pressure they have been facing due to recent cost increases.
Many producers are now facing extremely tight margins following significant, non-feed cost increases, including high prices for replacement pullets, electricity, labour, fuel, litter disposal and bedding.
The IFA stated that numerous farmers outlined that they are now weighing up whether or not they should place an order for another flock of pullets or not. Sweetnam said:
“An increase in price to cover the cost of feed has been received by most egg producers.
“However, other costs apart from feed have not been covered. We need immediate action to ensure the survival of our egg sector,” he said.
The IFA began campaigning nationally on behalf of poultry farmers to recover costs in October last year. However, urgent action is now needed on the matter said vice chair of the poultry committee Brendan Soden, who added that producers are feeling extremely frustrated right now.
Producers of other commodities have also expressed frustration recently that input costs have almost cancelled out their output prices.
Following the release of figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which demonstrated a rise in aggregate agricultural output prices in June versus May, the IFA stated that these increases have been “wiped out by a phenomenal rise” in input costs.
Chair of the organisation’s Farm Business Committee Rose Mary McDonagh said that the government must recognise the on-farm challenges that producers are experiencing as a result of these rising costs in Budget 2023. She stated:
“Farmers cannot be expected to carry on regardless. Many operations will simply go out of business if targeted measures aren’t introduced.”