There “should be an investigation into why factory prices are all equally low even though some factories are able to pay much more for cattle at marts”, according to the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA).
ICSA beef chairman Edmund Graham made the demands at the latest meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce today (Thursday, December 17).
Speaking on the matter, Graham said: “Some factories have markets which justify higher returns and this is evidenced by the prices paid at marts by factory agents.
Yet prices quoted by factories for direct sales are all uniformly similar. This strongly suggests that there is no free competition in terms of factory prices.
Graham insisted that this was a matter for the Beef Taskforce to bring to the attention of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
He repeatedly asked the meat industry representatives for a response but they refused, the ICSA claims.
“It is abundantly clear that some factories are in a position to pay 30-40c/kg more based on current demand for beef.
“We have seen UK price rocket ahead of Irish price this year and the evidence is that some factories are actively paying much more at mart rings than the quoted prices,” the chairman concluded.