The second meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce came to an end earlier this evening, which saw discussions on a range of issues – particularly with retailers, on the issue of Quality Payments Scheme (QPS) rules.

The general feeling from the farm organisation representatives that left Agriculture House this evening was that retailers did not view these requirements as set in stone.

Edmond Phelan, the president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), told AgriLand after the meeting that: “The in-spec criteria was not as cut and dried as we had been led to believe. Tesco were the only ones that were adamant they wanted 30 months, but they only needed 30-day residence on the last farm.

Nobody else had any requirements on residency, other than the Bord Bia requirement which was 70 days in total, which could be on numerous farms.

There was general agreement that the engagement with the retailers went well at today’s meeting, and was the most positive outcome of the talks.

Pat McCormack, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) told AgriLand: “It was very useful to have the retailers there, and to see what their market requirements are.

“Certainly, one would question the need to be so rigorous in the under-30 months, with a lot of hem stating that under 36 months was sufficient for them,” he added.

This was echoed by Enda Fingleton, a representative for the Beef Plan Movement, who said: “Having the retailers at the table was a big plus.

“We have information from the retailers today so we can go back and formulate a plan going forward on our approach to achieve higher prices for farmers,” he added.

Beef Grid Review

Another main topic of discussion was the Beef Grid Review undertaken by Teagasc. The representatives at the meeting were given a presentation on the progress of the review.

Commenting on this, Phelan said: “We feel there is more scope for the higher quality animals. If they’re boned-out the meat yield is a lot higher. The Teagasc report suggests that seven cents should be the difference, rather then six cents, between the sub grades.

“We feel, especially on the higher levels, on the R and U grades, it should be substantially higher,” Phelan added.

Dermot O’Brien, another representative for the Beef Plan Movement, also pointed out that the trialed changes in the classification system were discussed at length.

We have a new carcass classification system, we discussed it at length today. There’s a pilot process in place, where we have 6% greater accuracy between the old analog system and digital system.

“We did put in other proposals which Meat Industry Ireland will probably take on-board and will put to their members,” O’Brien added.

However, he also said: “We did discover today that imaging and LED lighting is only for one side of the carcass. We think there would be greater accuracy if you could image both sides of the carcass.”

Price

Despite the cautious optimism in some areas, the farm organisations remained frustrated at the lack of a firm commitment on price.

“If the retailers want fresh Irish beef by 2030, we need to be paid a price, but they cannot wait until 2029 to pay that price, it has to be paid in 2020,” said the ICMSA’s McCormack.

Thomas Duffy, the president of Macra Na Feirme, argued: “The meat industry has to move on price. Prices have to lift. There is justification now in the divergence between our export prices and what we’re currently being paid at the moment.”

The Beef Plan’s Fingleton added his voice to the chorus of exasperation, saying: “Unfortunately, we’re not walking out the door able to tell people we’ve got a price increase.

“We have a price rise everywhere bar Ireland, and we need to see a price rise coming into Irish farmers’ pockets,” he added.