Europe offers some beef hope
He said 60,000 tonnes less beef were eaten in Britain last year than the year before, a drop of 5% in consumption.
In the first two months of this year the supply of cattle to Britain and Northern Ireland increased by 2.5% to 3%, and the supply of cattle to Irish meat plants was up 13.6%, compared to the previous year, with no improvement in the market.
He was speaking during an Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food debate, where a beef processor representative said farmer dissatisfaction due to the current poor beef price is understandable but must not be wrongly channelled into negativity about the new quality payment system.
“The current weak price is due to ongoing difficult trading conditions in the marketplace,” said Cormac Healy, director of Meat Industry Ireland. He blamed sustained devaluation in sterling, and the global recession effect on consumer spending power.
There was a pronounced move towards less expensive cuts, such as mince and stewing, which hit demand for steak cuts, said Mr Brickley.
Mr Healy said the new quality payment system is part of the industry’s reaction to the beef slump, in order to reward quality, effort at farm level and the investment producers have made in breeding. “That is part of the process, but I recognise there is a long way to go.”
He said a contractual arrangement with suppliers is the ideal scenario for processors — if processors have some sort of insurance or guaranteed outlet for the beef. A number of such arrangements were in place, and a further scheme has been announced with suckler farmers, for once-bred heifers.
Mr Healy said 70% to 80% of animals are being purchased under the quality payment system, and he has no issue with a proposed audit of the scheme.
