We are writing to look for help, as to how we should deal with these facts and figures [below] relating to our family farm business.

We recently sold Continental heifers to a meat processing factory. They were factory-ready and were described to us as “a lovely, even bunch of animals” and that it would be “a crying shame to have to give them away”.

But this is exactly what we did and had to do; we had no other option but to almost “give them away”. To say that we are disgusted and disillusioned with the current system, and organisations that are supposedly working on our behalf, is an understatement!

Consider these numbers. In April 2018 we got a base price for similar stock of €4.10/kg. In April 2019, the [equivalent] base price was €3.85/kg. Now – in April 2020 – it’s €3.40/kg. Added into the current price – supposedly – is a bonus for quality assurance.

To go into greater detail, we looked back at our notes on an animal in 2018. She was a U= 4-. She weighed 376.3kg (dead-weight) and she made €1,633.14 before deductions.

In 2019 a similar animal (U= 4+) weighing 381.2kg (dead-weight) made €1,513.36 before deductions.

In 2020, a U+ 3+ animal weighing 441.4kg (dead-weight) made €1,642.01 before deductions. That means the factory got an additional 65.1kg of meat for a mere €9 more.

‘€4,500 down on 18 heifers…’

In other words, on the 18 cattle that went to the factory this week we were down €4,500 in comparison to 2018. That’s too much of a hit for our family farm.

Meanwhile, our input costs are all higher – fertiliser, meal, contracting, banking and so on.

Statutory bodies and farm organisations are raising their fees, which we also pay – rightly or wrongly.

What’s fascinating is that on a recent visit to the butchers we gave €21.00 for a roast of beef (about €15.00/kg) and €9.00 for a steak (about €20.00/kg).

And, in one retailer, I see striploin steak at €16.24/kg – packaged as Irish – and roast [beef] at €11.70/kg – also packaged as Irish. That particular retailer’s cheapest cut of mince is €8.00/kg. Another retailer is selling striploin steak for €25.00/kg.

State bodies and farm organisations

Would leaders and staff in state bodies and farm organisations keep working for reductions in their salaries year-on-year? The simple answer is no. So what do they propose?

Do the ‘powers that be’ want us to stay producing beef? If the answer is yes, then we need a fair return.

Meanwhile, in this Covid-19 crisis we continue to work and supply the food chain…and look after the welfare of our animals. As farmers all over the country always do in a crisis, we continue to help out wherever we can.

But we have more stock to sell over the next two weeks…and we can’t sustain these losses.

From the Moran family, Co. Tipperary