Farmers at the bottom of the food price spiral

AS a beef farmer, I was surprised by the recent report showing Irish food prices among the highest in the EU, especially when I look at what we farmers are get for cattle.

Even though we export 85% to 90% of our beef production, with more than half going to Britain, other EU states manage to sell our Irish produce for less than it makes here, even allowing for transport costs.

In Ireland, farm gate prices are way below those received by British farmers, yet British consumers pay just 2% over the average EU retail price for meat. There seems to be huge discrepancies between farm gate price, retail price and the concentration of supermarkets.