Meat association warning

THE Irish Meat Association warned EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler in Dublin yesterday of the impact of the CAP mid-term review on beef and sheep output.

It presented to him a report prepared by Dr Brendan Kearney, which predicted that the volume of beef available for export would decline in the range of 22% to 33%, corresponding to a 40% to 60% reduction in the suckler cow herd.

On this basis, turnover in the beef sector would decline by 380m to 573m and employment would decline by about 1,300 to 1,900.