Looking to future markets for Irish cattle, carbon footprint will become a major focus in the sale of beef to key markets globally.
Speaking at a recent Teagasc farm walk in Camolin, Co. Wexford, Denis Brennan from Slaney Foods outlined that the current demand is for younger cattle and said “any new market Ireland gets currently, is for stock under 30 months”.
He explained that while other countries can produce beef cheaper than Ireland, “we will have to go to another level and show consumers what we are going to do for the environment”.
“We need to outshine our competitors in the global beef market and we will have to go onto another level and look into antibiotic usage and anthelmintic usage; every year it’s moving closer to that.”
Commenting on what customers of Irish beef are beginning to enquire about, Brennan noted: “High-end customers are looking into greenhouse gases (GHG) currently.”
He noted that as time goes on, these requirements trickle down to all customers like the Quality Assurance (QA) scheme, which is almost “an expectation” now.
“Killing cattle younger is the quickest way to reduce industry GHGs. The longer the animal is on the farm, the more GHGs are emitted.”
He outlined that any breed can be finished at a young age as long as it hasn’t incurred a long store period in its life and said: “How we manage each breed has a big impact on its finishing age.”
Current cattle demand
Commenting on the current demand for beef, Brennan noted: “Prices are good and are going to remain good through summer and into autumn.
“The demand is there and supplies are good but not extravagant.”
He noted that weekly kills of of over 30,000 “would not indicate a shortage” of cattle.
“We have enough to meet demand but demand is very good at the minute. It’s more demand is good, than cattle are scarce.”
Brennan outlined that this is good news for farmers because it means when supply increases, demand should swallow up any increase in supply.
“I would not see 2021 being – at any stage – a bad price within reason,” Brennan affirmed.
Commenting on bull beef in 2021, Brennan noted: “When the beef market is good, the bull market is good but when the thing goes wrong, bulls are the first to go wrong.”
Snags to trade
However, the Slaney Foods procurement officer outlined that in October, to sell beef into the UK, health certs will have to be completed for all beef leaving Ireland going to the UK.
“That’s bureaucracy and it slows down transport but, because of Brexit, it has to come in.”
Continuing, he explained: “In the future, we will have to look away from UK as a customer as they begin to agree trade deals with other countries.”
However, on a positive note, Brennan said demand is good in the UK and Europe and remarked: “There’s no market performing poorly at the moment.”
What’s driving demand?
Commenting on factors that are driving current demand for beef, Brennan noted the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Chinese pig population as a main factor.
He explained that China is a “huge” consumer of food and noted an anecdotal story: “If every person in China ate a double cheese burger a day there would be no beef or cheese in the world.
“That’s the consumption power they have. 1.4 billion people who see a western diet as an affluent diet.”
He explained that China is buying up beef and lamb off the world market in an effort to fill the protein void the country is facing, as the Chinese pig population “has fallen off a cliff”.