The factories have been accused of attempting to “clean out” beef farmers by their continuous cutting of prices this spring.

ICMSA livestock chair Michael O’Connell urged farmers to hold cattle, or look at selling in the marts, rather than taking the latest 10c/kg cut which was imposed this week.

He said factory talk of uncertainty in the market was just “bluffing” and he warned that farmers are facing losses of €350 to €500 per head on finished cattle due to a combination of base quotes being pulled by around €1/kg from the peak this time last year and increased costs this spring.

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“We are aware of farmers looking at losing €500 per head on these cattle compared to last year. Is it any wonder that we can’t get young people to go into farming when they are at the mercy of this kind of carry-on,” O’Connell said.

“I would urge farmers to ‘box clever’ for as long as they can and sensibly consider their options before giving in to factories,” the ICMSA representative maintained.

All options

“We don’t believe the cattle are there; the figures have showed reductions of available cattle for the past three years,” O’Connell pointed out.

“Don’t be panicked and look at all options, including the marts,” he said.

Current factory quotes of €6.60-6.50/kg are back 70-80c/kg on this time last year. The peak cattle price was €7.73/kg which as paid on the week-ending 12 April last year.

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said the relentless cuts to beef prices by factories must stop.

He said the latest published Bord Bia Prime Export Benchmark price shows a gap of 45c/kg with the beef price from two weeks ago.