DEAR SIR: As a suckler producer and a former member of Bord Bia’s meat and livestock board, it is disappointing to see Bord Bia’s attitude towards suckler beef and its lack of vision for our industry.

Bord Bia’s current approach towards a “one cap fits all” is both a waste of resources and continues to drive the dairy agenda at the expense of well-bred beef cattle.

The time has come to differentiate our suckler beef from dairy beef

While I accept that the board is weighted with a dairy influence, it surely must have the vision to see what is needed. We constantly see Irish beef being promoted with images of the suckler herd and now a grass-fed brand designed for dairy beef at the expense of our product. The time has come to differentiate our suckler beef from dairy beef. We must create a brand for suckled beef on its own merits:

  • Reared naturally (suckled on its dam) in an environment of biodiversity.
  • Low carbon footprint, high FCE and weight gain.
  • Early slaughter age which leads to very high eating quality.
  • Grass-fed.
  • PGI for this brand alone as we see with the Scottish brand.

    • Bord Bia can easily promote dairy beef on its merits as it already has the Angus and Hereford brands but it is compromising its integrity by misleading consumers with the use of suckler images to promote all beef.

    Our suckler herd is under threat and we must now come forward with a model that differentiates it from dairy beef and promotes its own merits ie, naturally reared.

    Bord Bia has applied for new funding to promote suckler beef and now is the time to take full advantage of this.

    The next Minister for Agriculture must prioritise this as our suckler herd is so critical to rural Ireland

    I also believe the Department of Agriculture should ringfence funding to establish and promote this new brand in a meaningful way.

    The next Minister for Agriculture must prioritise this as our suckler herd is so critical to rural Ireland. The suckler brand that I am talking about must be in full ownership of the producer and it is the producer who must get the benefits from it.

    I see from Mark Zieg’s article in the Irish Farmers Journal last week that the new grass-fed brand is almost a “done deal” and Bord Bia claims to have widely consulted with the industry.

    This week, the Department of Agriculture, through ICBF, is contacting a lot of suckler farmers with a survey on what they want to get dairy beef onto their farms. This is what I call a wide consultation.

    Perhaps Bord Bia will now survey suckler farmers in this way and ask “are suckler farmers happy being marketed with dairy beef or would they prefer a suckler beef brand that would differentiate their product?”

    I would ask the chair of Bord Bia to reconsider the board’s strategy and let common sense apply.