UK, Irish beef price gap widens

The gap between the beef prices which Irish and UK meat processors are paying to farmers has widened by 329% over a 10-year period, says IFA national livestock committee chairman Henry Burns.

Mr Burns has told meat sector leaders attending the Beef Forum, chaired in Dublin by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, that the current Irish/UK cattle price gap at €1.16/kg compares badly with the average of 27c/kg differential over the ten-year period 2004-2013.

He wants Mr Coveney to stand up for farmers and make it “abundantly clear to the factories that there can be no price cuts or dual pricing under the Quality Payment System for weight, age, breed or Quality Assurance”.