The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has described factory beef prices as having a “devastating effect at farm level”.
ICSA Beef chair Edmund Graham has warned meat factories that their “continued assault” on beef prices is also causing immense frustration among farmers.
“The situation with beef prices has reached a tipping point. Producing beef only to get hammered by the processors and come out making a loss is completely unsustainable,” Graham said.
“Farmers are at their wits’ end.
“The power the processors wield has never been more evident as they continue to offer prices that simply do not reflect the actual cost of production,” he added.
The ICSA chair said that there doesn’t seem to be an acknowledgement of the challenges beef farmers have faced over the last year with the rising cost of inputs.
“It has never been more costly to produce beef and the lack of any recognition of that fact has created a tinderbox situation out there,” he continued.
Graham said factories must refrain from any further price cuts. “The recently published Teagasc National Farm Survey for 2022 shows just how little the average beef farmer is making,” he said.
He explained that Teagasc put the basic cost of production at €6/kg, even though farmers are “expected” to accept prices such as €5/kg.
“Adding insult to injury is the fact that factories had encouraged farmers to feed cattle for May and June,” Graham said.
“A tipping point has been reached; there is literally no more they can take from farmers and still expect them to produce.”
Factory prices for beef
Agriland reported earlier this week that factory quotes for finished bullocks (steers) have fallen by over 35c/kg in the past 10 weeks and quotes for P-grade cows have fallen by as much as 80c/kg in the same time period.
However, while Irish beef prices have fallen substantially, a look at the Bord Bia beef market tracker shows the Irish composite price still remains above the export benchmark price.
This week, heifers are being quoted at prices ranging from €4.95-5.05/kg on the grid with some outlets opening quotes at €4.90/kg on the grid for heifers.
Steers are being quoted at prices ranging from €4.90-5.00/kg on the grid with some outlets opening quotes at the lower rate of €4.85/kg.
Shed-finished cattle supplies are being prioritised and are still filling a significant part of most processors’ weekly kill sheets. Over the coming few weeks, supplies of grass-finished cattle are expected to form the largest part of the weekly kills at most sites.
Cow prices are falling across the board but there is variation of up to 50c/kg in cow quotes between processers.