There are “no excuses left” for factories “failing to return the value of the market in beef prices”, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has claimed.
The farming organisation made the comments on Friday (March 26), noting that UK price rose by 8c/kg last week.
This, the association believes, is being driven by supermarket demand; the anticipated re-opening of the food service sector; and extremely tight supplies of cattle.
The latest Prime Export Tracker Price is €3.87/kg, with the Irish price “lagging behind” by 12c/kg at €3.75/kg, the IFA noted.
Commenting on this, IFA president Tim Cullinan said numbers of cattle here are not meeting demand from the market place – and immediate and substantial price rises are justified, adding:
It’s time to call a halt to the control meat factories have exerted on beef prices over the past number of weeks and make them pay the market returns.
The value of Irish beef in comparison to Ireland’s main markets has now moved well past the €4/kg base price and this must be the immediate target, the president stressed.
IFA Livestock Committee chairman Brendan Golden also commented, saying the “blatant profiteering” of meat factories off the back of farmers in a “surging beef market” must stop.
The chairman said the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has a role to ensure Irish farmers get the full market value of their animals, adding:
There is no point in us hearing about how high our standards are and how many markets we can access when the value of these markets is not returned to farmers.
Golden said the uncertainty of Brexit has been removed and the new import controls have been pushed out.
“Factories are offering up to €3.90/kg base price for steers and €3.95/kg for heifers. Farmers should sell hard as factories need the cattle,” he said.