Processors undermining €1.6bn beef export trade, claims IFA leader

THE country’s €1.6 billion beef export trade and its production base are being damaged as a result of cattle prices being reduced by processors, the Irish Farmers Association president Padraig Walshe claimed yesterday.

He was speaking at a protest outside the Ardee, Co Louth, head office of Anglo Irish Beef Packers, part of the Goodman group.

Mr Walshe said AIBP, as the largest beef processor, was dictating the pace on cattle price cuts which has wiped €100 per head off beef prices in the last month.

Factories had cut beef prices by 28c/kg, plunging every cattle farmer into a loss-making situation this year, with damaging consequences for the production base and the exports that depend on it.

IFA Livestock chairman Michael Doran said the factories’ price and income cuts are threatening the national suckler herd of one million beef cows, which is vital to Ireland’s future as a major quality beef export player in Europe.

He said there is clear evidence on the ground that unviable beef prices are forcing producers to destock breeding cows to pay bills and meet family living expenses, which will hit future production and export prospects.

Mr Doran said the beef price cuts by Irish factories have undermined prices in important export markets in Britain and across Europe.

“Half our exports go to Britain where there is a major price differential of over €100 per head, penalising Irish cattle farmers,” he said.

Mr Doran said the only positive aspect of the livestock sector was the live export trade, which was up 100% this year, with over 180,000 live animals exported to date.

He said the live export trade was essential for price competition and the increasing live trade this year reflected the fact that processors in other EU markets were prepared to pay viable beef prices.

Meat Industry Ireland, which represents the meat processors, has warned that Irish beef exports are facing an extremely challenging marketplace at present, both in terms of price returns and sales volumes.

Cormac Healy, director, said the reality is that beef consumption in Britain and across Continental Europe is very weak and lower than last year.

Overall sales are slower and consumers are continuing their move towards purchases of lower priced beef cuts and mince beef.

Against this background, any hope of a recovery in cattle prices, while necessary and desirable from a beef sector point of view, is simply unrealistic, he said, stressing that the sector urgently needs government and EU supports.

Mr Healy said domestically produced British cattle generally command a price premium over Irish prices, given that British beef has priority access to all the high-value retail outlets. Only a limited amount of the high-value Irish beef cuts reaches the British retail shelves.

Irish beef exports are competing mainly in the wholesale/food service segment of that market where price competition is more intense, he said.