Irrational fixation with animal age will ruin our sector
The conundrum facing beef farmers is the fact that traditional finishing of beef animals in Ireland revolves around the reality that the most economical way of finishing an animal is to feed them ‘ad-lib’ grass.
Not only is it the most economical, but it also ticks all the boxes when it comes to the environment, animal welfare and the marketability of Irish beef as clean and green.
The problem is that the supermarkets, in conjunction with the processors, have over the last number of years introduced what they term as a market requirement — age-profiling, ie cut-off points in animal age. These “age limits”, 30 months for steers, 24 months for heifers, and as low as 14 months for bulls fly in the face of what is economically achievable at farm level in a grass-based system.
The fixation of processors and supermarkets on animal age runs contrary to our green image, runs contrary to their alleged concerns on animal welfare and runs completely contrary to best farming practice.
On Tuesday, September 9, I was witness to a farmer protest held outside the ABP meat plant in Bandon, during which the entire issue of where current Irish beef production thinking is headed, was crystallised into one simple sentence by the protest’s main organiser, the ICSA’s National Suckler Chairman, and local farmer, Dermott Kelleher during a radio interview. The general aim of the protest was to draw attention to the fact that the much-vaunted quality payment and assurance systems, championed by Bord Bia have, in effect, been hijacked by the processing sector, who now use them as devices to penalise farmers on price once animals reach these artificially-created age limits.
As the day progressed, Dermott had fielded several radio interviews in between furnishing the various news reporters and photographers who turned up with official statements from ICSA head office. His phone rings again, another radio station.
After a brief pause to reflect on the question asked, he is up and running; the now well-practiced explanations and arguments coming easily. “What the factories and supermarkets want us to do is force-feed our cattle to meet their unrealistic age-profile requirements.” Is that in the future, the radio man asked? “No” came the reply “It’s happening now. It’s making a mockery of our green image, heavy feeding of grain is how beef is produced on the continent — cattle that never see grass.”
What Dermott had said sums up for me the reality of what is happening.
The fixation of the supermarkets and processors on age-profiling flies directly in the face of the reality that to produce prime clean beef off grass in Ireland takes care and above all time.
A long time ago, we reached the point in this country where the 30-month rule for the payment of quality assurance should have been lifted to at least 36 months.
It remains now solely as a device, whereby fully quality-assured cattle are discounted when being paid for by the industry. This is criminal.
It is time to be honest and to explain that Irish prime beef is only a product of its natural environment when it has been allowed to age properly.
It is also well past the time when those of us who produce it were paid for that time and not penalised.
And remember, the British fixation on feeding cattle grain-based meals at a price did give us BSE.
