‘Crisis of confidence’ over difficulty in getting young bulls slaughtered
The ICSA spokesman said the anger is not just about beef prices showing no signs of improvement, it is about the apparent lack of interest in cattle.
Finishers who have specialised in young bulls are getting the signal that they are not wanted, but this poses a real problem for quality cattle coming from the suckler herd, he said.
“The meat industry has been messing around for a while now saying they want young bulls slaughtered at under 16 months. The reality is that heavy continental weanlings cannot be economically finished at that age given the cost of feed inputs on Irish farms and allowing for the fact that our strength is growing grass.”
