The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Livestock Committee chair, Brendan Golden, has said that beef farmers should “sell hard” and resist efforts by meat factories “to drag down prices”.
He said that beef farmers will not be fooled by “the usual factory propaganda” in attempts to control the market place.
“The behaviour of some factories in trying to reduce quotes shows no regard for farmers who have made huge investments in finishing cattle over the winter months.
“Factories are acutely aware of how tight beef supplies are. They’re trying to manipulate the situation by reducing throughput. This is unacceptable and must stop.
“Beef prices must reflect the reality of the market place and the increased demand in higher prices,” Golden said.
Beef
The IFA Livestock chair said that Bord Bia has predicted supplies of beef cattle will be down by 60,000 head this year, with all of this reduction taking place in the first half of the year.
He said that Teagasc figures “clearly show prices need to be in the region of €6.00/kg for winter finishers to be covered”.
“We are still a long way short of this target. Farmers should sell hard and demand immediate price increases.
“Despite some offering lower quotes, factories are actually doing deals for 10c/kg above quotes to secure enough cattle,” Golden said.
In this week’s factory quotes reported by Agriland for beef cattle, the base price for heifers and steers came under further pressure as more outlets attempted to reduce prices.
Some processors that reduced quotes by 5c/kg last week are holding their prices this week. Other factories that reduced price by 5c/kg last week are attempting to reduce quotes by a further 5c/kg this week.
If sufficient numbers of cattle are secured at the lower rate, further price cuts will likely be implemented and if factory agents are unable to buy sufficient cattle supplies at the lower rate and have to pay 5c/kg more, trade will likely remain steady.