Meat Industry Ireland (MII) highlighted the relatively strong beef prices at present during a meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce yesterday (Thursday, June 3).
The 10th beef taskforce meeting yesterday was the first in which management from various processors appeared individually. Prior to this, processors were represented at the taskforce collectively by MII.
Notwithstanding this, MII still had a contribution to make, telling the taskforce that current cattle prices are “at a six-year high”.
MII said that Bord Bia data shows that current Irish beef price is some 10c/kg ahead of the prices in the “full mix” of Ireland’s main export markets.
“Prices in Ireland today are 37c/kg or 10% ahead of prices paid in our main continental EU markets,” according to MII.
The industry group added: “This underlines a strong performance and delivery on market returns when you consider that we export 90% of our beef.”
The current price landscape comes despite a significant 22% reduction in exports to the UK and a 13% fall in total exports in the first quarter of 2021.
Apart from the price issue, MII also brought up “current market developments as well as some of the key opportunities and challenges that face the beef sector in the medium to long term”.
Among these was the need for all stakeholders to collectively engage in promoting the role of beef as a nutritious part of a healthy diet and to counter “negative and often misleading” campaigns around meat consumption and competition from meat alternatives.
As well as that, MII said there was a need to highlight the existing strong “sustainability credentials” of Irish grass-based beef production; and to engage positively on emission mitigation measures.
The processor group also called on the government to “hold a strong line” on negotiations for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform “to prevent the complete undermining of domestic Irish and EU beef production”.
MII went on urge the government to be “alert to the threats presented by future UK bilateral trade deals challenging the position of Irish beef in the important British market”.