The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has hit out at what it has called “downward pressure” being applied to beef prices by meat processors, saying it is “unacceptable and must stop”.
Speaking this morning (Wednesday, August 23), Brendan Golden, the IFA’s Livestock chairperson, said that the latest prime export benchmark price has “now opened up a gap of 25c/kg with the prime Irish composite price”.
He called on processors to “move to close this gap immediately”.
“Prices in our key export markets have shown some signs of stabilising, and in cases strengthening, in the past week and it’s clear factories are not returning prices the market justifies,” he said.
This apparent shortfall in beef prices to Irish farmers, Golden said, is “further eroding farmers’ incomes”.
The IFA said that input costs on beef farms are forecasted to increase a further 3% in 2023, following a 28% increase in 2022.
“Beef finishers do not have the capacity to absorb these cost increases,” Golden said.
He added: “Farmers are getting increasingly frustrated with meat processors. They are also very disappointed at the failure of [Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue] and government to put meaningful supports in place for the extremely vulnerable sucker and beef sectors.
“[We] have consistently called for direct supports to be increased to €300/suckler cow and €100/head cattle rearing and finishing payment, but [Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue] has failed to provide this,” Golden said.
The IFA chairperson went on to reiterate concerns with the new National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS).
The NBWS, announced at the start of this month, will provide participating farmers with €35/calf, up to a maximum of 40 calves, for meal feeding pre and post weaning; and €15/calf, up to a maximum of 20 calves, for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) testing.
“This scheme is not fit for purpose and must be revisited as a matter of urgency, and aligned with the BEEP-S [Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Sucklers] it’s replacing in terms of payment levels and qualifying criteria,” Golden said.
He added: “There is real concern for the sector in the coming months and farmers’ patience is wearing thin on the lack of support from factories and government.”