Taskforce hears of new beef pay option

MCP would allow additional components to be included in pricing, such as marbling in certain beef cuts, say Teagasc researchers. File Picture.

Teagasc researchers have said the current technology for classifying beef carcases could be further developed for “cuts-based” payments to farmers, allowing payment to farmers for cattle to be better aligned to the beef breeding programme.

In their recent report to the Beef Task Force, Paul Crosson and Laurence Shalloo described how multiple component pricing (MCP) could provide more detailed signals for cattle farmers to breed animals with the attributes desired by consumers of beef.