Beef finishers should have a contract with factories which includes a definite price for next spring, according to ICSA beef chair Edmond Phelan.

“Come spring, farmers would need to be achieving at least a euro more than they are getting at present to make it worth their while, so if factories want finishers to have confidence they will need to come up to the mark on price. Even at €4.00/kg, farmers would be losing over €200 a head.”