Beef has potential to add €500m in exports by 2025, say factories
The representative body of the beef processing sector in Ireland, Meat Industry Ireland has set out its ambitious growth targets for the beef sector in a beef policy document that it has produced in the context of the Food Wise 2025 document.
Director Cormac Healy, said: “This growth in output has already started, with an additional 60,000 head forecast to be processed this year and a further increase of 100,000 head in 2017.
“This already equates to an increase of approximately 50,000 tonnes in output by 2017 compared with 2015.
“Expansion is already happening on the ground and therefore it is critical that we move on key recommendations set out in our proposals.”
Meat Industry Ireland’s proposals include a government-led review of Brexit fallout, continued investment in improving savings at farm level, and a commitment on more resources to drive the international market access for Irish beef.
The meat factory group wants all parties to commit to enhancing the positive credentials for Irish beef, and a continued focus on reducing the cost of doing business to boost Ireland’s competitiveness.
Meat Industry Ireland said the price being paid to farmers has risen over the past 10 years.
“While there is always intense focus on finished cattle price, the reality is over the last decade the industry has delivered higher returns to producers,” said Mr Healy.
“Finished cattle price has increased by over 40% in that period. While there has been variation from year to year, the overall trend has been positive. Looked at a different way, the average finished cattle price over the last five years was 30% higher than the average price paid in the previous five years,” said Mr Healy.
“Significant investment has taken place too, in modern, efficient processing facilities that operate to world-class standards and in marketing resources to build a strong customer portfolio for Irish beef across European and international markets.”
