According to Beef Plan Movement (BPM) chairman, Eamon Corley, Irish meat plants are now ‘pulling’ farmer prices on a coordinated basis.
He said: “The story is the same as so many times before.
“The price of cattle in our nearest market is well ahead of ours, and rising. But our farmers, like fish in a barrel, are powerless to do anything about it.
“Is it as simple as the few being able to manipulate the many? Or do we have we a cartel in place? Or is it a case that one factory group sets prices and the rest follow?”
Pulling prices for beef
BPM claims that factories seem to be pulling prices across the board.
Corley added: “If we are to judge Ministers for Agriculture on what they have delivered for us up to this, we can also be reasonably sure that despite talking the talk, they will not deliver.
“If they have no desire to ban below cost selling or put any legislation in place to protect the primary producer, are they realistically going to tackle what could be a beef cartel?”
The BPM representative believes that farmers must now help themselves.
“What we do know is that the factory price is generally set on a Friday, but it can also be set at the weekend or on a Monday if it suits better from a price point of view,” he said.
“We also know that factories are always looking for an opportunity to pull prices regardless of whether the price they are getting for beef is rising.
“When that opportunity presents itself, they appear to have a plan of action that they put in place.
“The key to farmers getting any sort of a foothold on cattle prices will involve farmers not panicking when factories are trying to push prices in their favour,” Corley concluded.