Irish farmers will expect a better price for their cattle if demand from China increases as Brazil has suspended beef exports to the country over a confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
This is according to the beef chair of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), Edmund Graham who expressed his surprise that Brazil did not mention exports to the European Union (EU).
Graham has urged the European Commission to investigate the situation in Brazil and take all “necessary precautions” following confirmation of the case by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
While the BSE case in Brazil is “deeply regrettable”, he said Bord Bia and meat processors must seize the opportunity to embed Ireland as a leading supplier to the Chinese market.
“The gap in supply to China due to the Brazilian situation provides a great opportunity at a time when we have just re-established ourselves on that market.
“We fought hard to get Irish beef back into the Chinese market and we have an opportunity now to really make that market count, and count for the primary producers of beef, not just the processors.
“This must lead to an increase in beef price as the current price is not sufficient for winter finishing,” the ICSA beef chair said.
BSE case in Brazil
The animal concerned was a nine-year-old male, discovered on a “small property” in the state of Para, in the north of the country.
The ministry said that it “has been adopting all the necessary government measures for the Brazilian meat market”.
In a statement (translated from Portuguese), authorities explained: “The animal, raised on pasture, without feed, was slaughtered and its carcass incinerated on site.”
This is not the first time that exports of beef from Brazil to China have been suspended due to BSE.
In September 2021, beef exports from Brazil to China were temporarily halted after confirmation of two cases of atypical BSE at two different meat processing facilities. China is a major market for Brazilian beef.