Farm body says beef factories ‘out of touch’ with suppliers
Beef committee chairman Peter Fox said this week’s prices (base price €2.94/kg) show no improvement on last week and are another indication beef factories are totally out of touch with the disaster facing their suppliers. “The fact the cattle kill is up by 26,000 in the first six weeks of the year compared with last year is not a sign of an industry going well. It is a sign that farmers are dumping cattle as soon as they can,” he said. Mr Fox said farmers cannot afford to keep feeding cattle but surely processors realise this will lead to a scarcity of cattle in the coming months. “Meat industry propaganda is indicating that cattle over 400kg carcass weight and over 30 months will not be wanted in the future.
“But the low beef price means feeding cattle to kill at lighter weights and younger ages is totally unviable... Factories and retailers need to decide if they want beef from Irish farms, and if so, whether they are willing to pay a viable price. Otherwise finishers will have to review their businesses, cut back on stock and invest in toppers,” he said.
