Farmers are not seeing the benefit of shoppers paying higher food prices, with the situation worsening over the last 15 years, according to Independent TD Denis Naughten.
He said that a survey carried out by his office shows that the farmer gets €3.76/kg today while shoppers are paying on average €11.99/kg for a round roast in their supermarket, a markup of 218%.
“While the processing and supermarket sector will contest these figures, what they cannot ignore is the fact that when this is compared to the same survey 15 years ago, the share going to the farmer has dropped by a quarter over that period.
All farmers want is a fair price for what they produce but clearly someone is making a huge margin off their backs
“In 2005 the same survey showed that the farmer was receiving €2.80/kg for beef while shoppers were paying on average €6.59/kg for round roast in their supermarket, a markup of 135%.
“The survey shows that the share going to farmers has gone from 42% in 2005 to just 31% today, a drop of a quarter which clearly highlights the reason why the suckler beef sector is struggling.
“All farmers want is a fair price for what they produce but clearly someone is making a huge margin off their backs,” he said.
Unfair trading practices
The Roscommon TD said there is an urgent need for the introduction of a European law banning unfair trading practices covering agricultural and food products traded in the food supply chain.
He said he wanted to see transparency as to who exactly is profiting from the current system.
“The fact is our suckler beef industry is the lifeblood of towns and villages the length and breadth of the country and by placing it in jeopardy we risk condemning the Irish countryside to desolation,” he said.
A spokesperson for Naughten said all prices were quoted for the week beginning 4 July 2005 and 8 July 2019. The price quoted was for R3 steers. Beef prices were quoted from Department of Agriculture statistics, with supermarket prices coming from Tesco online, Dunnes Stores St Stephen’s Green and SuperValu online.
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Beef prices: weak trade continues
Farmers are not seeing the benefit of shoppers paying higher food prices, with the situation worsening over the last 15 years, according to Independent TD Denis Naughten.
He said that a survey carried out by his office shows that the farmer gets €3.76/kg today while shoppers are paying on average €11.99/kg for a round roast in their supermarket, a markup of 218%.
“While the processing and supermarket sector will contest these figures, what they cannot ignore is the fact that when this is compared to the same survey 15 years ago, the share going to the farmer has dropped by a quarter over that period.
All farmers want is a fair price for what they produce but clearly someone is making a huge margin off their backs
“In 2005 the same survey showed that the farmer was receiving €2.80/kg for beef while shoppers were paying on average €6.59/kg for round roast in their supermarket, a markup of 135%.
“The survey shows that the share going to farmers has gone from 42% in 2005 to just 31% today, a drop of a quarter which clearly highlights the reason why the suckler beef sector is struggling.
“All farmers want is a fair price for what they produce but clearly someone is making a huge margin off their backs,” he said.
Unfair trading practices
The Roscommon TD said there is an urgent need for the introduction of a European law banning unfair trading practices covering agricultural and food products traded in the food supply chain.
He said he wanted to see transparency as to who exactly is profiting from the current system.
“The fact is our suckler beef industry is the lifeblood of towns and villages the length and breadth of the country and by placing it in jeopardy we risk condemning the Irish countryside to desolation,” he said.
A spokesperson for Naughten said all prices were quoted for the week beginning 4 July 2005 and 8 July 2019. The price quoted was for R3 steers. Beef prices were quoted from Department of Agriculture statistics, with supermarket prices coming from Tesco online, Dunnes Stores St Stephen’s Green and SuperValu online.
Read more
Irish and British cattle prices particularly poor
Suckler farmers to get €35m of €100m beef fund
Beef prices: weak trade continues
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