Automated classification increased price range

BEEF processors say the price range for cattle has nearly doubled since automated beef carcase classification was introduced here in 2004.

“We proposed a spread of at least 40 cent to 45 cent per kilogram across the range of animals but did not succeed at the time,” said Cormac Healy of Meat Industry Ireland (MII), during a report on carcase classification to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food.

But farmers who supply top quality cattle now get up to 22c per kg more than a supplier of inferior cattle, according to the spokesman for MII, which represents beef processors.