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The struggle for finishers to get bulls slaughtered was to the fore of issues raised by beef farmers protesting outside Dáil Éireann on Wednesday.
Representatives from 26 counties gathered to lobby politicians at an event organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
Laois IFA chair Francis Gorman said farmers were receiving prices as low as €3.30/kg for bulls and that finishers were at breaking point.
Pat Deering, chair of the Oireactas agricultural committee said its members will undertake an analysis of the future of the beef industry, given the ongoing crisis.
Sucklers
The importance of the suckler herd was highlighted to Fianna Fáil’s Marc MacSharry by IFA representatives from western counties.
JP Cowley, Sligo IFA chair, said that without the suckler herd the west of Ireland would experience mass abandonment.
Crowley also said the decline of the suckler herd should be a concern, not just for the farmers, but also the wider rural community.
Brexit
Brexit was also to the fore, as the UK’s date of departure from the EU draws closer.
The IFA called on Government to deliver a post-Brexit aid package similar to one Baltic countries received following the Russian import ban.
In a conversation between farmers James Bennett and Richard Scally and Fine Gael’s Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, it was highlighted that current beef intervention is ineffective as it requires prices to fall to €2.20/kg.
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