A viable price or cattle numbers will fall - IFA

By Paul Mooney

Cattle farmers from every county completed a 24-hour protest outside all 27 meat factories across the country on Monday over falling farm incomes and cuts in cattle prices. "This protest has sent the message loud and clear to the meat factories that farmers will not continue to produce cattle at a loss,'' IFA president John Dillon told protesters.

"The factories will have to deliver a viable price, otherwise cattle numbers to the beef plants will fall under the new decoupling policy,'' he said.

"Irish beef is now being sold in European markets and Irish farmers are entitled to European beef prices, IFA livestock chairman John Bryan said. "However, the reality is that with the exception of the new EU member states, Ireland is close to the bottom of the EU beef price league.''

Fine Gael agriculture spokesperson Billy Timmins called on beef factories to look on their relationship with farmers as a partnership. "I would hope that beef factories could begin to work in partnership with farmers by accepting that they must give them farmers a better return for their produce,'' he said. "If farmers are faced with continuing prices cuts, the inevitable outcome of current CAP reforms will mean that some farmers may choose to de-stock, cut their level of production and simply take their Single Farm Payments. Such a scenario is in no-one's best interest, whether it be farmers, processors or the wider food sector.''

ICOS Mart this week urged farmers not to slaughter unfinished cattle but to instead bring them to marts. "There is a very strong demand for unfinished stock for further feeding at present, and due to a scarcity, the trade is very strong,'' said ICOS marts chairman Tom Doyle.

"There is no point in sending unfinished stock to the factory, just to claim a slaughter premium, when it is obvious that a combination of low factory prices and deductions and levies, will cost more than the value of that premium. There is prompt, guaranteed payment at marts, the full price is known and agreed before the animal is sold, there are no factory deductions or disease charges and there is no difficulty getting into marts, he claimed.