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IRISH BEEF farmers are angry about a massive cattle price gap with the UK. Thousands of Irish farmers last week blocked abattoirs for 24 hours – the first such action in 15 years – protesting that they are not seeing the benefit of higher prices paid by UK markets for their produce: there’s a gap of $560 between prices in the UK and Ireland.
Irish Farmers Association president Eddie Downey says farmers are very angry over the price difference. “Beef farmers have had a tough year, and with our main markets now recovering strongly they are not prepared to tolerate loss-making prices any longer.”
However, Meat Industry Ireland said the action was “unnecessary, misguided and counterproductive”.
Downey says Britain took at least half of Irish beef exports and they cannot understand how price increases in the UK had not been passed on to Irish farmers who have taken big losses on their animals since last winter.
Nobody can explain why our beef prices are $560 behind those paid to farmers in the main UK market, Downey says.
Prices in the UK have risen in the past few weeks by $160 but Irish prices have stayed flat and are now below the EU average. “This is unfair and farmers are right to react with protests across the country.”
In the past 12 months farmers have being hammered with loss-making prices and specification cuts that have decimated their incomes, Downey says. “Farmers cannot continue to sell cattle at a loss.”
IFA national livestock chairman Henry Burns says livestock farmers are angry that the Minister of Agriculture Simon Coveney has not tackled the factories on the beef issues that have seriously damaged the sector and farm incomes since last January.
He says farmers feel let down on the beef specification issues and by Coveney not insisting that the factories implement a quality payment system or price grid in a fair way in line with their agreement with suppliers.
Burns says IFA has repeatedly asked Coveney to resolve problems over live trade to the North and competition and transparency in the trade.
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