The main players in the beef sector met last week for the first time with new Agriculture Minister Michael Creed.

Minister Creed convened the meeting in the wake of the Brexit vote and a subsequent period where beef prices have fallen by as much as 30c/kg.

While the consensus was to allow Minister Creed time to put his stamp on the forum as chairman, farm organisations have now all called for action to support struggling beef prices.

While there was some hope that the presumed glut of cattle coming on stream for slaughtering in the back end would not be as bad as feared, the mood among beef farmers is not optimistic heading into the autumn.

What has the beef forum achieved?

Last week’s beef forum called for a new taskforce to set out how best to implement the Food Wise 2025 strategy. Is another stakeholder committee what the beef industry needs?

Granted there needs to be a long-term outlook to develop and grow the industry. But it is the issues affecting beef producers at present that farmers want addressed.

Farmers and lobby groups are angry over the actions of meat processors in using Brexit to their advantage and bringing price negativity into the trade after a reasonably steady spring.

Before another stakeholder group is set up, beef producers want to know how effective was the action plan agreed by all stakeholders back in November 2014.

Former Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney announced eight measures that were to be the key focus of both farmers and meat processors. These measures include:

1. Weight Specifications – There were to be no price penalties based on weight up to 31 December 2015.

Weight penalties were not as big an issue in 2015 as cattle supplies were generally tight over the summer and early winter period due to favourable grazing conditions meaning farmers were in no hurry to sell.

However, with the intial early market signals for 2016 indicating increased supplies, weight limits became an issue for many farmers this spring. As spring progressed and cattle supplies tightened, factory agents were more relaxed in applying these penalties in order to secure numbers. It begs the question, is there a spec or not?

Better communication and early communication is required to allow beef producers time to adjust their finishing system to meet weight specs.

2. Age specifications – engagement with the retail sector and third country markets with the objective of increasing age specification for premium beef from 30 to 36 months.

There has been no movement on age specifications to date, with factories generally paying more for prime cattle under 30 months of age.

3. Quality Payment System (QPS) – no dual base pricing for breed, age or weight.

Pricing has reverted back to normal, with different base quotes for in-spec and out of spec cattle, for underage and over-age bulls and dairy bred and continental-bred cattle. The factory league tables published by the Irish Farmers Journal in mid-July show how dual pricing has crept back into the beef trade in the past 12 months.

4. Quality Payment System – Review of current QPS by the middle of 2015.

This was never delivered on and the QPS grid remains as is. Beef producers finishing continental-bred cattle at the desired conformation and fat class, with high kill-out, remain frustrated at the lack of incentive for delivering such cattle to meat processors, especially given the increased mart prices when purchasing such animals.

5. Quality Assurance – processors to provide a price incentive for all steers and heifers from Quality Assured farms with effect from 1 January 2015.

Again, there has been no movement on this issue to date. QA payments remain as they have been.

6. Farm movements – clarification and harmonisation of the system for counting the number of farm residencies for determining eligibility for the QPS in-spec bonus. Any barriers to movement through marts will also be examined.

This is another issue where there has been no movement to date.

7. Price transparency – new market index to be developed based on the different beef categories on the main markets served by Irish product.

Price transparency has not been delivered despite the promises of processors.

8. Price transparency – harmonised remittance document for farmers showing base price, bonuses and any other factors contributing to final price.

There has been some limited movement on this measure at some plants.

However, farmers who kill select cattle types as part of a producer group or under a breed scheme have commented on several occasions that where an agreed number of cattle were booked in for slaughter, but additional animals were delivered, bonus payments were applied to the lightest animals delivered to comply with the initial contract.