It has been six weeks since the publication of the Irish Beef Sector Agreement on 15 September and progress has been slow since then.

A number of measures have been introduced, including a new bonus of €0.08/kg on steers and heifers aged between 30-36 months, a rise of €0.08/kg on the in-spec bonus and the introduction of a new in-spec bonus of €0.12/kg for steers and heifers under 30 months grading O-4+.

QPS review

The changes around the in-spec residency period have been implemented. Teagasc has been working on the QPS review and the Irish Farmers Journal understands it is currently waiting on the most recent dataset from meat processors to update the original model.

It is not clear at what stage other reports are at or whether they have been started. It is also unclear when the next meeting of the taskforce will take place.