Chilling beef news from Brazil

“BUYING grain and meat from across the oceans is sometimes cheaper than buying it from the country next door”, said EU Agriculture Commissioner Fischer-Boel recently.

She may have been thinking of beef, one of Ireland’s main agricultural exports, but now increasingly likely to come into Europe from Brazil, which can export as much in two months as Ireland can in 12 months.

“Globalisation is with us and seems to be moving forwards with unstoppable momentum”, said Ms Fischer-Boel - chilling words for Irish cattle farmers, as beef supplies from more than 5,000 miles away drive down prices on the EU market.