Cross-border beef price gap widens

Beef cattle prices in Northern Ireland have surged further ahead of prices south of the border, adding to the anger of farmers who protested at meat plants last week, in support of IFA’s 24-hour beef price action.

IFA President Eddie Downey said farmers were very angry over the €350 per head cattle price gap between Ireland and our main export market in the British mainland.

But the price gap has also widened within the island of Ireland, due to strong increases in base quotes for prime cattle from Northern Ireland processors. Official prices reported for R3 steers in the North last week were at 348.6p/kg, having risen 8.5% over the past six-week period.

Prices south of the border have been left well behind. The differential last week reached the equivalent of 65.8p/kg, or £217 for a 330kg carcase (or €277, at an exchange rate of £1 to €1.28). In turn, the average British mainland price was £21 (€27) per animal higher, according to figures from the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland.

The cross-border cattle price gap is even wider for heifers. The EU cattle prices league table for R3 heifers in the week ending October 19 showed the North’s price at 437c/kg, compared to 362.8c/kg in the South.

Northern prices have moved ahead despite steady supplies of prime cattle for slaughter, with last week’s prime cattle throughput in the North at 7,200 head, the highest weekly throughput since late May.

In the south, IFA President Eddie Downey said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and the beef processors must respond to the 24-hour beef protest by 15,000 farmers, by addressing the €350 per head price gap versus the UK.

Further IFA action against beef processors is expected unless beef cattle prices improve.

“With UK beef prices increasing by 30c/kg (€100 per head) in the last number of weeks, there is no excuse for processors here to withhold a price increase to farmers,” said Eddie Downey.

He said there is no credible explanation why the strong price increase in the UK, which takes over half of the beef exports from southern Ireland, is not reflected in higher prices to Irish farmers. However, the price gap is particularly galling for farmers in the border counties, because their neighbours in Northern Ireland are enjoying prices which are even 6.9p/kg higher than the equivalent price in southern England, and 3.4p/kg higher than the equivalent price in the English Midlands (but 1.8p/kg behind the Northern England price).

Meanwhile, southern beef cattle prices are languishing about 75p behind the British mainland price