Trouble ahead for live cattle exports

Ray Ryan

In the first step of formulating new EU policies on animal health and welfare, the Commission has recommended stocking density reductions which reduce the number of 300 kilo animals in a typical transporter from 64 to 44.

“On a typical journey from Ireland to Spain or Italy costing 6,350, the increase in cost per animal would be from 99 per head to 144 per head. It is thought that this increase of 45 per head would make the proposition unviable,” said sources in the ICOS National Co-op Marts Committee.