ICSA claims base price paid to beef producers must be raised

THE base price paid to producers for beef must be lifted without delay, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association has claimed.

ICSA beef committee chairman Peter Fox said while it is in favour of a quality payment system, it does not accept the present one as it stands.

“It does not sufficiently reward farmers for producing quality,” he said, stressing that the 6c/kg being offered between each point on the grid above the base price needs to be doubled.

Mr Fox said farmers feeding quality store cattle to beef with high input costs and receiving current prices cannot stay in business.

He said it was disappointing that meat factories were manipulating beef prices for their own gain.

Deducting money for fat scores and applying an age limit of under 30 months despite the fact that the EU has raised the BSE testing age to 48 months is just an excuse to slash prices.

The 30-month age limit needs to be scrapped immediately, he said, re-iterating his call that all cattle coming from Bord Bia Quality Assured farms should get the 6c bonus.

Mr Fox said the emphasis for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme is on the welfare, housing and handling facilities and record-keeping more so than on how the animal grades at slaughter time.

“All animals coming from quality assured farms should get the 6c bonus regardless of age or grade whether it is a cow, a bull or a heifer as long as the farmer is complying with the rules of the scheme.”