Farmers stage Tesco protest over low prices paid to food producers

ANGRY pig, poultry and beef farmers demonstrated outside a Tesco outlet in Cavan town yesterday against the low prices being paid to food producers, claiming that their livelihoods are threatened because of mounting losses.

Around 100 farmers attended the protest, which continued from 11am until about 4pm. The farmers claim that the retail sector continues to enjoy high margins, while refusing to address the rising costs of production impacting across all sectors — pig, poultry, beef, milk and egg producers — as world grain market prices soar.

An Irish Farmers Association (IFA) statement issued yesterday noted: “Retailers had better deal with this issue urgently, as hundreds of local farm businesses are making significant losses while supermarkets enjoy margins of over 40% on their produce.