IFA president calls on Bruton to make retail prices fairer to farmers

FAIR margins from retail food prices and measures to curb the power of the big supermarket multiples were discussed by Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton and IFA President John Bryan in Dublin last night.

Mr Bryan called on Mr Bruton to prioritise the legislation to give the farmer a fairer share of the price paid by consumer.

At present, consumers pay 33c for an egg which farmers produce for 8c. Consumers pay 15 times the production cost of a chicken. The farmer’s share of the retail price for milk has fallen from 42% in 1996 to 26% in 2009.