The ICMSA has doubled down on its assertion that the collapse in beef price and farmer difficulties in getting animals slaughtered was compounded by factory efforts to “systematically engineer” the cattle kill. Cattle slaughterings between January and May decreased by 12% or 93,000 head when compared with the same period in 2025, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

Reacting to the revelation ICMSA’s livestock chair, Michael O’Connell, said that it was more proof that the sustained drop in prices which farmers have suffered since the start of the year was “unrelated to real market factors”. In better news, factory quotes have increased by 10c/kg this week.

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