Hi-tech beef sector set for price rise
However, Bernard Smyth, chief drystock adviser, warned that an increase in beef prices will be a prerequisite to profitable farm production.
He said an increase in producer prices will best be achieved through expanding partnerships between farmers and meat processors. These partnerships would lead to more market-oriented production and improved marketing efficiency.
Mr Smyth told the national open day at the Teagasc Beef Research Centre at Grange, Co Meath, yesterday, that farmers who cannot generate a worthwhile margin, excluding the new single farm payment, will find the payment being used to cover production costs and will have no future in beef farming.
“While the single farm payment will be a vital component of farm income, particularly in the medium term, its value will be eroded over time and beef farming must stand on its own feet if farmers are to make a viable income,” he said.
He said almost half of beef monitor farms, which are used to promote new technology, achieved margins of over €600 per hectare in 2003.
“Only a minority of these farmers are making a profit level over and above their total receipts from the various EU premia. Increasing the number of farmers making a real profit from beef is the major challenge facing all sectors of the industry,” he said.
