Sheep farmers angered by price drop

SHEEP farmers are angry with the meat factories for the way they have eroded lamb prices in the last couple of weeks, the Irish Farmers’ Association has claimed.

Henry Burns, IFA Sheep Committee chairman, said the factories are tripping over themselves to pull back lamb prices in a race to the bottom of the lamb market.

Mr Burns said these price cuts are unjustified, with the French market returning the equivalent of €4.80/kg.

Some factories are telling producers they cannot kill their lambs and pushing them back for a further week, as well as telling them the prices will be lower.

Mr Burns said this is a race to the bottom by the factories and in total conflict with the position they advocated at the Malone Strategy Group.

“At the Malone Group discussions, the factories were looking for farmers to keep more ewes and produce more lambs.

“This week they are not able to sell the lambs available at viable prices,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association president Malcolm Thompson has called for an emergency meeting of all the stakeholders to discuss what he said was the disastrous situation facing the sheep sector.

“We have seen crises in the sheep business before but a drop of this magnitude indicates serious flaws in the entire structure of the industry,” he said.