More than 200 hundred farmers gathered 800 trolleys and two tractors at the main Tesco outlet in Naas on Thursday evening in protest over 10 months of beef price cuts as well as specification changes.

The protest follows a heated meeting in Navan on Tuesday in which the IFA promised to target the processor and retailer link. The meeting also heard from farmers who have seen a 20% drop in beef prices compared with this time last year.

Addressing the protestors in Naas, IFA president Eddie Downey said frustration levels among beef farmers are at near boiling point and he said that price cuts cannot be justified.

“With beef prices in our main markets in the UK and across the EU stable and recovering, the current attack on prices led by the factories cannot be justified... farmers feel betrayed by the unacceptable behaviour and lack of corporate responsibility on the part of the powerful retailers and meat factories to their farmer suppliers,” Downey said.

Burden

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the protest, Caroline Farrell a farmer from Stradbally, Laois urged processors and retailers to ease the burden on farmers.

“A better deal is needed for farmers, and a better deal is needed for beef prices,” Farrell said. “Our costs have been soaring and we can’t keep going on like this. It’s not just a matter of one farmer or one sector, the whole farming community needs to pull together on this one,” she said.

An hour into the protest, Tesco released a statement attempting to exonerate itself. It stated that it has not made changes to age restrictions or specifications, both of which were central to the IFA’s actions outside the Tesco store in Naas.

“There have been no changes to Tesco’s age restrictions or specifications in relation to bull beef and there are no current plans to make any changes. Tesco is a significant supporter of Irish beef farmers; beef exports to Tesco internationally from the Republic of Ireland are c€177m per year, almost 14% of the total value of beef exports,” the statement said.