Industries urged to address report
She said the Prospectus report and the Beef Task Force report have set out challenging plans for the future configuration of both sectors.
There are compelling arguments in favour of addressing the key issues in these reports and particularly to face up to the case for rationalisation.
Ms Coughlan, speaking at the ICOS conference dinner in Dublin, said the Luxembourg agreement has shifted the balance of production in beef so that returns from the market will heavily influence the production decisions of farmers in the new decoupled era.
Off farm income opportunities in a booming economy has given added impetus to the option for existing producers to drift away from full-time farming activities while availing of other employment options in a full employment economy.
The effects may lead to greater consolidation and better production units, as there are no limiting forms of production, save the supply and demand balance of the marketplace.
But even so, the issue of scale at both producer and processor levels, needs to be addressed, she said.
Ms Coughlan said it is similar in milk, though there remains a reference quantity of production that has a limiting effect on scale at producer level.
“I am willing to engage fully with the sector to explore every avenue through which we can reach the optimum configuration compatible with the needs for processor scale,” she said.
