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Anger is mounting among beef farmers as factories cut cattle prices for the fourth week in a row. The export plants have cut prices by 30c/kg, or €105 on a 350kg carcase, and autumn is only beginning.
Recent wet ground conditions and rising numbers of slaughter-fit cattle have put farmers in a weak position. While most cattle will be bought at base prices of €3.80/kg and €3.90/kg for steers and heifers this week, the plants were attempting to cut these prices by a further 5c/kg. The factory kill is on course to exceed 35,000 head this week.
Factories are pointing to the weakness of sterling, which has fallen to 93p/€1. However, the recent sterling slump only equates to a drop of 13c/kg, less than half the factory price cut.
IFA livestock chair Angus Woods met with Meat Industry Ireland on Wednesday and warned that farmer anger was growing over the speed and severity of price cuts.
Irish cattle prices are falling behind UK prices, which are at the equivalent of €4.12/kg, a gap of €120 for a 350kg carcase.
Call for EU support
IFA president Joe Healy has called for the Government to seek “EU support for farm-level measures that will counteract the price drops being experienced, which are arising directly from the sterling depreciation, independent of other normal market forces”.
He demanded a range of EU and Exchequer supports for beef and mushroom producers.
On the other hand, sterling’s weakness is set to deliver a boost to farmers in Northern Ireland. If exchange rates remain as they are through September, NI basic payments will rise by 8.5% or £23.5m on 2016.
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