Beef forum must review factory prices, says IFA
At the forum meeting called for this Thursday by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed, the IFA will push for Irish meat factories to bring their prices in line with the UK market.
The IFA says that, with pre-Christmas demand pushing up prices, farmers selling cattle this week are demanding and getting significant price increases of up to 10c above the quoted prices.
“The grass kill has worked through and factories are finding it very difficult to get stock with base prices of €3.70/kg on steers and €3.80/kg on heifers being paid,” said Mr Healy.
“Some deals above these prices are also on offer. In most cases, a decision has now been made to sell or to house and this in itself has tightened numbers and given farmers more bargaining power.”
In the UK, R3 steers are fetching £3.59/kg, equal to €4.39 at the 86p/€ exchange rate.
The IFA says that the UK cattle trade is moving rapidly into the high demand Christmas procurement period. Against this background, the IFA expects trade to pick up.
Meanwhile, the ICSA plans to meet with Cork Marts to discuss the importance of export markets in maintaining a viable beef price. The farmer group has expressed deep alarm at news that Cork Marts are pulling out of the calf export business.
ICSA suckler chairman Dermot Kelleher said: “Live exports are urgently needed to get the glut of dairy calves out of the country. Cork Marts was a major player in this business and we urgently need to see these calves exported by someone.”
