Farmers should be in no rush to sell finished cattle in early January - ICSA

Beef finishers should be in no rush to sell cattle during the first week or so of January, according to Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmer’s Association (ICSA) general secretary Eddie Punch.

“Beef prices should start to strengthen, once we get into the New Year. Uncertainty, caused by Brexit, has been dominating the Irish beef market for the past 12 months,” Punch said.

This is clearly evident from the growing divergence in Irish and English cattle prices during 2020. The Brexit deal will serve to remove this uncertainty and Irish processers must respond accordingly.

“The first fortnight of January is normally a topsy-turvy period, where the beef market is concerned. ICSA will be calling on all beef processers to increase prices next week. But farmers should wait to see how the market responds, before they actually sell stock,” he continued.

ICSA will is calling for a compensation scheme, relating to all finished cattle from the middle of January 2019 up to this point.

“Again this reflects the fact that Brexit has had a weakening impact on Irish beef prices, going back to 2016,” Punch explained to AgriLand.

“The BEAM [Beef Emergency Aid Measure] scheme compensated farmers for stock sold between September 2018 and May 2019. We now need to see additional support made available, which recognises the negative impact of Brexit on the Irish beef market from May 2019 up to this point.

Cattle prices averaged €3.60/kg for most of 2020. This figure is well below where the market would have been had Brexit not become a reality.

Aid package

The ICSA general secretary commented on the significance of the €5 billion EU Brexit aid package which is available to all member states.

“Ireland will be fundamentally impacted by Brexit during the period ahead. The Irish government must, therefore, fight to secure a realistic proportion of this money.

“ICSA will make the case in the strongest possible terms for Irish beef farmers to receive their fair share of the monies that become available.”

Punch welcomed the €100 million fund, announced by the Irish government, to support food processing operations selling into the UK market from next week onwards.

“This money will help such businesses cope with the extra administration costs and bureaucracy they will face once we get into the New Year.

“But government must not forget that farmers need to be fully compensated for the reduced prices made available to them due to the uncertainty caused by the entire Brexit process,” Punch concluded.