Beef lands farmers in trouble
TDs and senators highlighted “depression among farmers in the beef industry”.
“The collapse in prices is pushing many people over the edge financially”. . . “In recent times, they have been attending my clinic due to social welfare issues because of the collapse in beef prices,” said Senator Pat O’Neill, himself a beef farmer in Co Kilkenny.
Co Carlow TD Pat Deering referred to a farmer who had 200 cattle which were the right age in January, but he still had them for sale, and was in “severe trouble”.
Mr Deering said a 10-year-old fat cull cow will probably make more money now than a 16-18-month bull.
“Ultimately, while we are talking, farmers’ businesses are going down the tubes. There are people who invested a great deal and whose farms are now haemorrhaging money,” said TD …amon ” Cuív.
West Cork’s Senator Denis O’Donovan spoke of a young farmer having difficulty getting rid of his 30 bulls of 18 months old, facing “a huge loss”. He spoke of another farmer who had his bull beef aged approximately 17 months ready for sale in late January but who had severe difficulty finding an outlet.
Mr O’Neill said he attended many meetings at which factories encouraged bull beef. “The specification was then suddenly changed by the factories and the multiples in Britain, and they wanted 16-month-old beef.
“I produced bull beef for three years. Luckily enough, I am not producing it this year. I decided not to do so this year because I found it hard last year to get rid of the animals following the change in the specification from 24 months to 20 months and then 18 months.”
Tom Barry, TD, said farm-ers ask him why not simply have a boat and forget this grid business, because it is breaking them.
He predicted prices will increase significantly after June, “when the farmer's stock has been given away and we are back to the feed-lots supplying.”
Beef processors have told the Agriculture Committee they have always insisted that the specification for young bulls should be 16 months or younger. Any production outside this guideline should be agreed early in cooperation with individual processors.
Teagasc chief Professor Gerry Boyle said even his expert researchers and advisers and farm managers were caught by changing bull beef specifications — resulting in reduced profits on their farms, on which Teagasc depends to a significant extent for its income.
Bord Bia chief Aidan Cotter warned that farmers have taken a huge knock. “Without confidence, producers are less likely to commit themselves in a significant way to the future. I believe the outlook is positive, but clearly there must be a greater sense of trust throughout the industry among all stakeholders.”
Joe Burke of Bord Bia confirmed that over the last month or six weeks, processors had increased their weekly throughput of young bulls to about 6,500, mostly over 16 months of age, and thus not meeting the specifications of the more valuable British retail outlets. The average price of young bulls has fallen by 15% so far this year, compared with 12 months previously. Steer prices had fallen less than 5%.
Summing up, …amon ” Cuív said Bord Bia and the factories wanted 16-month-old bull beef, but Teagasc said it is uneconomical, and favoured 18-month-old bull beef. It fell to chairman Andrew Doyle, TD, to sum up the committee’s findings, and he warned that the finishing end of the beef industry will become akin to the pig industry, controlled by the processors who will own large feedlots, and farmers in the main will supply animals for finishing in these feedlots.
Many drystock far mers would look at being a secondary part of the dairy industry.
He said live exports remains the escape valve and safety net for the industry.
Farmers were left hoping that Minister Coveney’s prediction of last week comes true — that the bull beef over-supply will last only for a couple of weeks.
That may also be the only hope for achieving the Food Harvest 2020 target to increase the output value of the beef sector by 40%.
It’s ironic that Coveney’s attempt to restore confidence among beef farmers rests on the accuracy of predicting the beef market two weeks ahead — a bet which many farmers have lost over the years.
