The chairman of the Beef Plan Movement has warned that the farmer group is concerned that, unless there is a change in the current pricing system, “family farms will be replaced by factory farms similar to what is in South America”.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Eamon Corley said: “Beef farmers are being driven off the land and we see the problem has been created by corporate greed.”
He was speaking to the broadcaster as the Beef Plan Movement is seeking to ramp things up as it enters the second week of its nationwide protest.
Continuing, Corley said: “The current pricing system that’s used in this country no longer works for farmers.
The retailers set the price and the processor passes back a loss-making price to the farmer and that’s completely unsustainable.
Corley explained: “If a customer spends €10 on beef, the retailer takes 51% of the price, the processor takes 30% and the farmer is left with about 19% of the price.”
Meat Industry Ireland’s response
Responding to the ongoing farmer protest, Meat Industry Ireland’s (MII’s) director Cormac Healy has said: “The European meat market at present is experiencing an exceptionally difficult period.
“In a situation in August where you would expect the steak market to be strong and supporting the trade, it’s far from doing that.
Another big segment of the overall market – the manufacturing beef trade – is under severe pressure at the moment.
“Ireland exports 95-90% of the beef we produce right across European markets and the price that’s returned is just above the EU average.”
Concluding, he said: “There’s no simple solution to this situation at the moment given market conditions.”