It has been argued that the Irish dairy industry “has a responsibility” to fund the extra lairage facilities that are required in Cherbourg.
Speaking on the latest episode of FarmLand, the general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), Eddie Punch, made the comments and stressed that: “We need to get as many of the dairy calves out of this country as possible.”
Outlining the situation in the Irish beef industry, Punch explained that there is a lot of cattle in the system at the moment and that “beef factories are taking huge advantage of the surplus of cattle that have been available throughout the winter and early spring period”.
The ICSA’s general secretary said: “All of these extra dairy calves are dragging down the price of beef cattle for everybody.
We have too many calves and the beef industry has demonstrated time and time again that it will be absolutely ruthless in cutting the price to farmers for every excuse possible.
Elaborating on his comments that the dairy industry should take responsibility for the funding of extra lairages, Punch continued: “Ireland has had massive focus on dairy expansion, and that’s a fine thing for people involved in dairy.”
However, he said that it is “unrealistic and unfair that the costs of dairy expansion are being visited on the beef farming sectors”.
“There is nothing to stop the dairy industry paying for extra lairage facilities in Cherbourg,” he stressed.
They have got to accept that they are making a lot of profit out of all these extra cows that are being milked, but the extra calves are undermining the profitability of the beef farming system.
Concluding, Punch said that the ICSA would like to see a simplified beef grid that delivers real margins to quality cattle.