Questions raised as slaughter cattle trade to North increases

BEEF industry sources in Northern Ireland have expressed disquiet at imports of about 700 slaughter cattle per week from the South.

The National Beef Association (NBA), representing northern cattle farmers, has demanded information on where beef from the southern cattle is sold.

“Mystery surrounds the ultimate retail destination of beef taken from these animals, which are assured to different standards than those installed in Britain, and which do not qualify for the Red Tractor’s Union Jack label,” said the NBA’s Northern Ireland chairman, Oisin Murnion. “The arrival last year of so many Republic of Ireland cattle, the equivalent of 8% of Northern Ireland’s annual prime cattle kill, raises legitimate questions about the destination, and the branding, of both cuts, and mince, taken from so many cattle that have been finished in the ROI, and which have had no chance of meeting the residency terms of NI’s farm assurance,” said Murnion.