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Beef farmers remain under serious pressure and they "continue to lose money hand over fist", Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) president Edmond Phelan has said.
He said farm income projections from the Teagasc mid-year outlook report reinforce the position that the €100m in beef exceptional aid should go to beef finishers and sucker farmers only.
“Beef incomes are expected to languish while dairy incomes are projected to bounce back significantly through 2019. Beef farmers remain under serious pressure and they continue to lose money hand over fist.
“ICSA is adamant that all exceptional aid funds should go to those farmers whose primary enterprise is beef, and those farmers only,” he said.
Dependence
Phelan said that the expectation from the outset was always that beef finishers and suckler farmers would be the beneficiaries of this aid.
“They are completely dependent on the state of the beef trade and they are the ones who have suffered the greatest hardship from Brexit-related price pressures. For this fund to have any real impact it must not be watered down by spreading it out too thinly.
“The priority now has to be channelling the funds to those it was always destined for and delivering it in the shortest possible timeframe,” he said.
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