Meat factory prices of €4 per kg for grass beef and €4.50 for winter beef and more live exports are needed to restore profitability on livestock farms, said IFA president Joe Healy.

Analysis by the ICMSA has demonstrated that the margins taken on beef by retailers and processors continue to grow while the farmer’s share continues to decline steadily.

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.

Following last week’s beef roundtable agreement on actions to address beef farmers’ concerns, IFA turned their attention this week on the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), staging a protest at their Dublin office on Tuesday.