Questions have been raised on the commitment to beef farmers by the Beef Plan Movement following a week which included the Glanbia/Kepak Twenty20 Beef Club and the roll-out of the controversial Green Schools resource pack.
While the group has acknowledged many aspects of the Green Schools programme as commendable, it notes “a blatant disregard for the food pyramid of which meat and dairy are cornerstones”.
“The fact that Communications and Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton has endorsed this programme to reduce students’ carbon footprint shows a blatant disregard for the farming community with ‘Meat-free Mondays’ and ‘Vegan Hotpots’ among the suggestions,” the movement said in a statement.
The group accused the Government of “growing increasingly removed from the issues encountered by farmers every day”.
Regarding the Twenty20 Beef Club, the organisation has welcomed the effort to provide some price stability – but has questioned how a form of forward pricing can be implemented for dairy beef “while beef finishers face huge losses this year due to the collapse in beef price”.
If a form of forward pricing can be done for this initiative, surely it can be done for all beef finishers.
The farming organisation has called for efforts to increase the export potential for dairy-bred cattle rather than increasing the number remaining in Ireland, further increasing the supply of finished cattle.
“This initiative shows some innovative thinking but an equal focus needs to be placed on suckler beef to avoid decimation of an already pressurised sector,” the movement’s statement said.