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The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to ensure that any gains in high-value beef markets are not undone by displacing Irish beef with its South American equivalent on the European continent.
The call comes as Minister McConalogue is leading a Bord Bia trade mission to Japan and Singapore, with Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon to take up the mission once it gets to Vietnam later this week.
IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden expressed concern on the impacts of the EU-Mercosur trade deal on Irish beef sales in the EU, which he said will ultimately remain a larger volume outlet for product than the higher-value markets in southeast Asia.
“These are important aspects for the sector in the medium to longer term, but we cannot lose sight of the immediate challenges on suckler and beef farms,” Golden said.
'Erosion' of suckler payments
Golden also reiterated the IFA’s calls for a €300/suckler cow and €100/head finishing cattle payment to be introduced in Budget 2023.
He claimed that productive beef farmers are to lose out in the new CAP plan from 2023 onwards.
The updated CAP strategic plan with the farm schemes that are come into effect next January was approved by the European Commission on Wednesday.
“Some of our most productive suckler and beef farmers are facing into 2023 with the challenge of the ongoing inputs costs, which will be further compounded by the erosion of their basic payments in the new CAP,” the livestock chair concluded.
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