Earlier finishing a 'bad investment' if beef price can't cover costs
Conservative estimates by Teagasc show prices would have to be at the €6 per kg level by early spring to cover basic costs of production.
There is "no incentive" for farmers to finish cattle earlier given how stagnant beef prices have remained over the last number of months, a farm organisation has said.
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association beef chairman Edmund Graham said that back in mid-December, farmers were getting €5.10 per kg for heifers and €5 per kg for steers. Mr Graham said there has been not "nearly enough upwards movement" seen since then, "and certainly not enough to have finished cattle earlier over the winter months".
"Throughput numbers are down on where they were this time last year and many factories have cut back to a four-day week - but market demand for beef remains strong," Mr Graham said. "This should add up to farmers achieving a fairer price but that is not what we are seeing.
"Cattle prices have been languishing around the €5.20 to €5.30 for months now despite repeated assurances that prices would increase significantly in early spring to offset inflated winter-feeding costs."
Conservative estimates by Teagasc show that prices would have needed to be at the €6 per kg level by early spring to cover the basic costs of production, Mr Graham noted, "but we haven’t come even close to that". "It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that any extra money spent on trying to finish cattle earlier would have been money down the drain," he added.
If farmers had taken the decision last September to invest in finishing cattle earlier for the springtime, they would have been "badly stung", Mr Graham said.
"Finishing cattle earlier is not cost neutral - it costs money," he continued. "It is an investment to commit to additional feeding and it’s a bad investment if farmers cannot achieve the price they need to justify the outlay.
"It is time for factories and the department to engage in a real debate with primary producers on how they are going to provide sustainable prices for winter finishers or any farmer considering finishing cattle earlier."
Mr Graham added that environmental sustainability "cannot be achieved by ignoring economic sustainability considerations". Bord Bia's recent figures show that cattle supplies at export-approved meat plants remained subdued at 32,211 head during week 16 of the year.
Total throughput for the year to date is 547,313 head, a decrease from 569,706 in the same period last year. Prime cattle numbers have tightened so far in 2023 in line with Bord Bia forecasts while forecasts for cull cow throughput have been revised upwards to reflect the stronger-than-anticipated number of cows being processed.
According to Bord Bia, the live export trade continues to provide an important alternative market outlet for Irish livestock. During the week ending April 16, there were 12,582 cattle exported out of the country which takes cattle exports for the year to date to 138,349 head, Bord Bia's figures show.
This figure is 3,984 head below the same period last year. For the year to date, cattle export figures are operating 3% behind the same period last year. The Netherlands, Spain, and Italy have continued to be the most important markets for Irish calves.
