If you were looking for some confidence to invest in the beef sector, you won’t find it in the Future for the Beef Industry Oireachtas report.

The 43-page report was released this Tuesday after a six-month process which saw most farm organisations and other companies present their demands to the committee and outline what they saw wrong with the beef sector.

The committee duly took these points on board, typed them out and put them together to form the report.

Mercosur

The elephant staring everybody in the room was Mercosur and the fact that a deal is almost across the lines in Brussels.

The cynical side of me would say that after five months' work the prompt publication of the report ahead of any potential Mercosur announcement was no accident.

I don’t think our politicians and industry leaders have a genuine grasp of the gravity of the problems that face us

Announcing the findings with a Mercosur trade agreement across the line would have buried this report beyond retrieval.

While the committee expressed a grave concern around the implications of the trade deal on the Irish beef sector, nobody had any solution on how to stop it or minimise its impact. It is also worth noting that the report did not call on the Taoiseach to use Ireland’s veto to block any trade deal.

Ticking boxes

It was a question of ticking the political boxes and it was a job well done. Let the farm organisations come in, hammer the table and go home again. They have engaged and consulted with the industry and farmers and produced a report.

All of the committee members gave their views, each choosing particular recommendations to expand on. It ran like clockwork as did the questions, with most farm organisations welcoming the report but at the same time highlighting the issues with it.

The big question is, will the report be shelved and take its place gathering dust in the corridors of Kildare Street? Time will tell.

Deputy Pat Deering, chair of the joint agriculture committee, told the Irish Farmers Journal: “We didn’t put all the time and effort into this report to put it on a shelf to gather dust. We will be presenting this report to the minister within hours and it is our intention to revisit the report and its recommendations in October/November to see has progress been made. We need to especially focus on calf exports around this time ahead of the busy spring period.”

Sexed semen

Sexed semen and calf exports were discussed at length while the suckler cow also got a few mentions. Also mentioned were producer groups, feedlot dominance, grid reviews, more market transparency, more live exports, better branding for Irish beef, sexed semen, PGI status for suckler beef and a climate change plan.

From the outset, PGI status for suckler beef seems like one of the more positive recommendations. However, will it deliver for farmers? At the moment, processors tell us that when they sell beef it’s irrelevant whether it is an R3 from the dairy herd or an R3 from the suckler herd. In all of our current branding, we highlight our suckler herd and market the majority of our beef on the back of that strong image. If we look to differentiate, will customers start to question the origin of other beef and look to discount it and the big question is, will this suit our processors and will they pass the premium on to farmers?

Fear for industry

For the first time in my lifetime, I have a genuine fear for the future of our beef industry. We are facing huge problems, lack of profitability, a Mercosur trade deal, lack of market transparency, climate change, fake meat, reduced supports and an exodus of youth from our sector.

For the first time in my lifetime, I have a genuine fear for the future of our beef industry

I don’t think our politicians and industry leaders have a genuine grasp of the gravity of the problems that face us.

While today’s report highlights all of the issues and problems with the industry, it offers lots of potential solutions but little sign of action for our struggling sector.