The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has urged beef farmers to hold out for better prices from factories amid what it claimed is a scarcity of supply.
ICSA Beef chair, Edmund Graham said: “Factories have been conditioning farmers to accept lower prices, but the reality is that supplies are tight, and factories are actively seeking cattle.
“There is no reason to accept prices as low as €4.80-4.90/kg. The cost of inputs has not dropped and there are reasons to be very worried that costs could get worse before they get better.”
Graham said that farmers cannot be expected to produce cattle at this time of year for less than €5/kg. However, he said the real puzzle is whether farmers will be able to finish cattle this winter at all, given the huge escalation in feed costs.
“In our view, farmers would want contracts at €7.50/kg for next spring in order to be profitable and there is no sign of this happening,” Graham continued.
The ICSA has said that it is therefore urging all farmers to do their maths and calculations carefully.
“Farmers must be paid not only for the beef but also for their time and for the risk they take. There are better options out there than putting massively expensive ration into finishing cattle in a high-cost winter system,” Graham explained.
Factory quotes for beef
Meanwhile, factory quotes for beef cattle this week have held at similar levels to last week with supplies of finished cattle remaining strong according to several sources.
This years’ throughput is running 84,000 cattle ahead of last year (excluding veal) with 1,069,232 cattle processed as of August 14, this year.
The week commencing Monday, August 15, saw the highest weekly kill of bullocks to date this year at 16,591 head. Despite talk of supplies reducing, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) figures seem to tell a different story.