The opportunity in the Chinese beef market, created by a suspension of Brazilian beef exports to the country, “must be grasped by factories and Bord Bia”, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
Beef exports from Brazil to China were suspended yesterday (Wednesday, February 22), following confirmation of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.
The animal concerned was a nine-year-old male, discovered on a “small property” in the state of Para, in the north of Brazil.
Samples from the animal in question have been sent to a World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reference laboratory in Alberta, Canada, which will confirm if this case of BSE is classical or atypical.
IFA’s livestock chair Brendan Golden has said that the void that the suspension will leave, creates an opportunity for Irish beef in the “lucrative and high-volume” Chinese market that meat factories must capitalise on.
“We have just recently regained access to this market, a market our factories told us was critically important when we did not have access to it.
“This must now be reflected immediately in prices to farmers,” he said.
Bord Bia has predicted that supplies of beef cattle will be down by 60,000 head this year, with the reduction taking place in the first half of the year, said Golden.
He added that considering 2023’s throughput to date, a significant tightening of cattle supplies could be expected in the coming weeks and months as demand for beef increases.
Speaking about how this will positively impact farmers, Golden added that recent attempts by factories to reduce prices will no longer work.
He added that he believes this new development will now bring “renewed farmer confidence” and will “ensure that prices move on”.
“Teagasc figures clearly show prices need to be in the region of €6.00/kg for winter finishers to be covered and we are still a long way short of this target.
“Farmers should sell hard and demand immediate price increases,” he stated.
He added that this “must be the minimum target price for beef” and that it would be reasonable to expect this price to be surpassed if Bord Bia and processors work to fill the void created with Irish beef.