Beef farmers are “barely hanging in” following recent price cuts, according to James Cosgrave – who farms just outside Enfield, Co. Meath.
He runs a suckler herd alongside a sheep enterprise with his son, James jnr, on 350ac of land in the ‘Royal’ county.
In terms of their suckler operation, the Cosgraves endeavour to finish all of the cattle they rear to beef – but sometimes they move some on as forward stores.
Commenting on the past 12 months, James snr – who is a stalwart of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) – said: “In my lifetime, it’s the worst year we ever had. This time last year it was very wet and we had to put in the cattle early.
As well as that, we thought we wouldn’t have to make any silage in 2018 because we had that much of it. But, as it turned out, we just barely had enough to get us out. And then come the spring, it was so wet and so cold; and then we had the snow.
“We had to put the sheep into the shed because of the snow, and they were worse off in the shed than they were outside at the time – because there were drifts in the shed.”
Conditions improved in May, but then the drought struck. Like many farmers, the Cosgraves kept a close eye on the forecast for rain which didn’t arrive for weeks.
As a result, the decision was taken to house the cattle again.
Continuing, James snr said: “They didn’t thrive as well; we had to put them in and it has cost an awful lot of money to keep them in feed.”
‘It’s not viable’
With beef prices where they are, James snr is concerned that additional costs incurred in recent months will eat up any profits that may be achieved from sending their cattle to slaughter.
He believes that there is “no reason” for recent beef price cuts and that farmers are struggling to survive.
It’s not viable. Only for we are hanging in, hoping for a good day and hoping that we get the Single Farm Payment in time – other than that it’s not viable at all.
He criticised the meat industry for turning its back on beef farmers, compared to the support that dairy farmers have been shown by processors.
‘Farmers can’t stick this’
Continuing, he added: “The beef fellas done the very opposite. They went about cleaning us and they’re still not satisfied; they still want to cut prices more. Cattle won’t be there after a while, because farmers can’t stick this.
“I think that they are just barely hanging in. The trade in the marts is not very good because farmers haven’t got feed and you can’t expect farmers to be buying cattle if they have no feed or if they have to buy expensive feed.”
Concluding, James snr argued that beef farmers shouldn’t be forced to change their enterprise due to poor profit margins.
Why should beef farmers have to discontinue what they are doing all of their lives and give it to somebody else? It has to be an industry that is able to stand on its own two feet, and it has stood on them for a long, long time.
“There was more money in it 40 or 50 years ago than there is now,” he said.