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Francis Gorman – Laois chair
My big concern would be the price of beef. At the moment it is €3.75/kg and you are talking about letting almost 100,000t of beef into an already oversupplied market. You can only have concerns of price going one way.
When you see them announce straight away a €1bn fund to support European beef farmers, obviously they think the very same thing, or they would not be providing that level of funding.
It goes to show you the double standards, the double speak
I do not think they will take the Paris Climate Accord seriously at all. They will do whatever suits themselves. Once this deal is over the line, we will pay the consequences for that beef coming in.
It goes to show you the double standards, the double speak that they would allow that volume of beef come in. There is already almost close to 300,000t coming in already and you hear stories about rainforests cut down week on week to facilitate more agricultural production in Brazil.
If they were serious about climate change, they would have found some other way around it other than bringing in that volume of beef.
Harold Kingston – Cork central chair
It is a big mistake. It is obvious that farmers are the sacrificial lamb and calf. The chance for extra dairy to go into south American countries, personally I do not see what products that they specifically need from us that is going to develop enough of an income stream to justify the potential loss for beef.
It is a bad day for Ireland and a bad day for Europe.
If we decide to import beef from these countries and use Ireland as a carbon sink to counteract that, 1ha of rainforest is worth four times or 10 times the value of any Irish forest. In an Irish context the key thing is protecting the carbon in the soil. We can do that with grass.
It is a bad day for Ireland and a bad day for Europe
I do not see the Government’s climate action plan which talks about increasing renewables as a substitute for the high-quality beef we produce. I talk about high quality and I'm talking about the taste of Irish beef because it is an unbelievable product, we should be extremely proud of that product but unfortunately its being thrown to the commodity market and being wasted.
I am not sure that €1bn will solve the Irish problem let alone the EU problem.
Brendan McLaughlin – Donegal chair
This is a total disaster for the beef industry in Ireland, especially the suckler farmer. I’m Donegal county chair and the majority of farmers in Donegal are suckling and beef farmers. This could put us out of business.
They are going to give €1bn to EU farmers losing out to the market disruption of the deal. That will be like giving us a penny. We have to do something about this because we need serious help on the beef side of things.
This is a total disaster for the beef industry in Ireland
We have to make a living. We produce the best grass in the world for fattening cattle, we have quality assurance, we have everything. It is second to none. I do not know what is going to happen. Beef prices are coming down as I am speaking to you. This is coming on top of that and the outlook is not good.
I do not want to talk about Brexit and if that happens, we are totally gone. I am not a negative person and I generally try to think positively but we have to make a living some way. Over the next week or two things will come to a head as we hear more details.
John Curren – Meath chair
As a beef farmer I am extremely disappointed to hear that a Mercosur deal has been agreed. The beef farmers of Ireland have been sacrificed again with 99,000t of a quota being agreed.
As the beef farmers know they produce to the highest standards not in Europe but in the world. Any of the South American imports that are coming in there virtually no standard at all.
The only way that beef price can go is downwards
Price has been extremely poor for the last six months. The winter finishers basically lost up to €300/head this winter and the price is at the moment in free fall again. Even summer finishers now and any cattle that are going to be slaughtered in the next three months is going to lose money.
Now with Mercosur coming in and cheap imports from South America the only way that beef price can go is downwards.
Gerard Burke, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo
We are all aware that beef and sheep prices are bad at the moment. The agreement of the Mercosur deal was another massive blow to beef farmers. But the deal is not yet signed. It is now time for everyone to pull together regardless of their background or political persuasion. About 90% of farms in the country are in Bord Bia Quality Assurance, and we are one of the most highly regulated countries in Europe for traceability and the quality of beef we produce.
The agreement of this deal is a massive insult to all beef farmers and it undermines everything we have been striving to achieve for the last 30 years or more. I work in the feed industry, and not only will the deal effect my farming livelihood, it could also have a major impact on my off farm job, and for thousands of other jobs reliant on the agricultural sector. It is a time for farmers to be positive and to pull together to fight this deal.
Jack Keane, Westport, Co. Mayo
The deal is a very bad one for this part of the country where the suckler sector is the bread and butter of farming. Things are difficult enough as they are besides this deal. As a weanling producer I am focused on producing the best quality Charolais cross bulls and heifers I can in order to make a small margin.
There is a lot of talk about farmers getting out of suckling and cutting down on cow numbers. If the Mercosur deal has a negative impact on beef prices, you will see more farmers getting out of suckling. My long-term view is to keeping doing what I am doing. By producing the best quality weanlings I can, there have always been buyers there for them. If we all change from suckling to sheep or another sector it will have an impact on prices and will have a knock on effect, so for now I will stick with the system I am in.
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