The beef sector is once again embroiled in a heated debate on carcase specifications as factories move to impose penalties on overweight carcases. Most are trying to cut farmers by 10-20c/kg on carcases over 420kg. The move clearly shows the extent to which the Beef Forum has failed farmers. It has been exposed for what it is: a political platform focused on achieving politically acceptable compromises rather than showing any real leadership.

There has been no attempt by many of the organisations on the Beef Forum to inform the debate on carcase weights with the facts. Where is the economic analysis showing what impact placing an upper ceiling on output from the sucker herd will have on profitability? How will restricting output from the suckler herd affect the carbon footprint? What impact will a reduction in carcase weight have on the percentage of beef moving into the higher value food service and retail sectors and to what extent will this increase the price paid to farmers?

In failing to provide the answers to these questions, Teagasc and Bord Bia have failed farmers.

Last week in our special Focus on sucklers, Darren Carty showed that an upper weight limit would hit farmers breeding top-quality cattle the hardest. In the absence of facts, we are forced to accept the factory position that there is a direct correlation between carcase weight and the eye muscle of the loin that affects steak size. Again, where is the scientific evidence to support this claim? Farmers breeding and finishing cattle know the importance of carcase length in producing well-conformed animals with a high kill out percentage. Surely an outward looking Beef Forum would have commissioned a research project to establish the correlation between carcase length and carcase weight and ensure that we are not penalising heavier animals that have actually higher yielding loins.

On the broader issue of specs, the reality is that farmers can and will produce to even the most stringent of weight and age specifications. We only have to look back to the under-12-month production systems that flourished in response to an EU regulation placing an age limit on the export of bone in beef. There was no issue with farmers finishing a range of continental breeds under 12 months of age simply by adapting the production system.

The reason the system flourished was because the market paid a price that incentivised the production system and farmers responded. At present, we have a market that is not in a position to return a viable price to farmers and yet is trying to impose further restrictions that will reduce output.

The specifications debate should focus on the fact that factories are trying to impose a British retail spec on Irish farmers while consistently returning €300 per finished animal less than what is returned to British farmers for the same animal. Meanwhile, if we look across Europe, we see what is predominately a 22-month bull beef system operating without the same carcase weight restrictions. It is simply not tenable to force Irish farmers down a steer beef route with limits on output and then expect them to compete in the British or mainland EU market.

If the Beef Forum is to have any credibility among farmers, it must be seen to start tackling the real issues facing the sector. While Simon Coveney proved competent in his role as Minster for Agriculture, one area where he failed to engage was in live exports. The Beef Forum must tackle this issue and in particular the anti-competitive country-of-origin barriers which prevent the live export trade to Britain.

In the context where we see prices for shed cattle once again lagging those paid for animals off grass, it must also establish who really benefits from Irish farmers producing beef all year round. There is little evidence to suggest farmers have benefited from an all year-round production system. Our dairy industry would not survive in an environment where farmers were forced to produce an even supply of milk throughout the year and where there was a restriction on the output per cow. This is effectively the environment in which suckler and beef farmers are now expected to operate.