News that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed will put a proposed package for beef finishers in front of the Cabinet today, Friday, June 12, is a “welcome development”, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
However, IFA president Tim Cullinan said: “The details of the scheme and the small print will be important.
“I hope that this scheme will be worthwhile and straight-forward,” he said.
The IFA had made submissions to Government showing that beef finishers had lost over €20 million as a result of the Covid-19 price impact.
“The closure of the food-service sector across Europe really hit beef finishers and they badly need help to cover these losses,” the president added.
Earlier this morning, it was revealed that Minister Creed is set to bring details to Cabinet of a support scheme for beef farms today.
The scheme will be targeted at farms which have been severely impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be a hammer blow for the beef sector, with prices falling sharply in recent months, primarily down to an effective collapse of the food-service industry across most countries.