The French government is paying farmers to sell cattle at lower weights in January and February in a bid to reduce the overall volume of meat entering the market. Beef-bred steers slaughtered under 360kg carcase weight or exported live for slaughter under 680kg liveweight are eligible for a €150/head payment.

“The aim of this measure is to limit the volume of beef on the market and initiate price recovery,” the ministry of agriculture said in documents detailing the scheme. The payment also offers a welcome boost to cash-strapped farmers. At the current French price of €3.76/kg for R3 steers, the €150 payment makes up exactly for the 40kg lost to a typical 400kg carcase weight at slaughter – but the farmer saves the cost of fattening the animal to that point.

Funding

This scheme is funded through France’s €50m share of the €350m in European funding made available to member states last September to alleviate the crisis in the livestock sector, matched by an equivalent amount from the French exchequer.

Ireland chose to use its share of the same envelope to provide the low-cost €150m loan fund due to open for applications shortly.

Farmers will apply for the grant retrospectively in March.