Farmers are likely to be “disappointed that there is no increase on the main issue of beef prices”, despite the agreement coming from the beef talks, according to the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
According to Healy, holding the talks in the first place under the precondition that price would not be discussed was “ignoring the elephant in the room”.
“With Brexit just 71 days away, strong EU and Government support is urgently required for beef farmers who are in the middle of a severe income crisis,” he argued.
“It should be ensured that imports which do not meet the same stringent standards as EU producers are banned,” the IFA president insisted.
In a statement, Healy drew attention to the fact that there was an agreement arising from the talks on the need for a fully-funded Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), to protect its share of the EU budget, and to ensure that the current level of direct payments to beef farmers here “is protected”.
He added that a “strong position” for additional funding for targeted direct support for suckler cows had also been secured.
Among the main points of the agreement are commitments on:
- Review of the grid;
- Review of the in-spec criteria for the quality payment system bonus;
- Availability of carcass images;
- Appeals system for carcass classification in manually grading factories;
- Publication of an expert report on new technology in mechanical carcass classification;
- Promotional initiatives for the beef sector;
- Market transparency initiatives, including more detailed price reporting, and the transposition of the EU directive on unfair trading practices.
Speaking after the talks, Michael Creed, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, said: “Progress was made on important initiatives aimed at improving transparency along the supply chain, and improving communication between the industry and farmers.”