DEAR SIR: It was a welcome announcement from the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed that €50m for the beef sector will compensate for the losses for winter finishers as a result of COVID-19, but how should it be divided?

The minister has only to go back to last year to find the guidelines to compensate the same people who again took the hit for the lowest beef prices for cattle in the last 10 years with a few adjustments. This time, he does not have to obey any EU rules in distributing the money, so he need not impose restrictions regarding the stocking rate which was the big sticking point in the last scheme.

Much is often made of the contribution of the live shippers to the trade but their role is overstated

The winter fatteners will be the same people who compete against each other and the feedlot buyers around the ring for the stores and weanlings next autumn.

Much is often made of the contribution of the live shippers to the trade but their role is overstated in the greater scheme of things as they buy a very small percentage of stock.

They are never feared by the farmer buyer because anything that makes the suckler farmer breed better stock is a plus.

In the bigger picture it needs to be recognised by the powers that be in Bord Bia that the international reputation of grass-based Irish beef lies with the suckler herd and if there is a commercial future for the sector there needs to be a distinction between the suckler herd and the male offspring from the dairy herd, no matter what the sire.

This point was best covered in last week’s Irish Farmers Journal letter from Emmanuel O’Dea from Galway on PGI status. I hope Bord Bia takes note.

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Letter re sustainable suckler beef - PGI status