Leitrim farmer comments on call for stronger beef prices
IFA Livestock Chair: ‘Farmers should push back strongly on the negativity from factories and their agents’
A Leitrim farmer has spoken out after IFA Livestock Chair Declan Hanrahan said increasing demand for beef and tightening of supplies in key markets must be reflected in stronger beef prices.
Mr Hanrahan said: “Recent promotions of beef in the UK market have gone very well, with stronger orders from the UK market as a result. Tightening of supplies in this market has steadied UK and NI beef prices considerably, with only very marginal declines in beef price in recent weeks.”
Declan Hanrahan said this is completely at odds with “the race to the bottom approach by our factories. The turnaround in market conditions must now be reflected in higher beef prices here. Farmers should push back strongly on the negativity from factories and their agents. Market conditions are improving, demand for cattle is increasing as prices stabilise in the key UK market and factories must reflect this.”
He continued: “We are continually told by Bord Bia about the need for standards and ever higher standards to maintain markets. Yet as soon as the first wave of Southern hemisphere beef entered the UK market, we were left high and dry with our standards as beef from Brazil, New Zealand and Australia took our place.”
He added: “Bord Bia were quick out of the blocks claiming credit for the increased export value of beef last year when we hit record prices, but that is in the past. What we need now is our food marketing agency to step up with a significant promotional campaign that will win back customers and drive volume sales in key, high-value markets on our doorstep,” he concluded.
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Leitrim farmer and Leitrim councillor, Paddy O’Rourke, told the Leitrim Observer. “Farmers who produced beef over the winter months, mostly with very expensive store cattle bought last autumn and early winter, are losing big money and any light relief in price stabilising or increase will only reduce their loses rather than see them return to profitability. Which begs the question; what will these farmers do next autumn when the heavy disposals of store cattle hit the market?”
He went on to say there “there is a feeling among farmers that prices are being managed by the factories in an attempt to recover some weakening of their profits last year when prices rose significantly but only where they would need to be to from a farmer’s point of view.”
He concluded: “ Any strengthening of demand can and should be reflected by a price increase to the the producers if we are to help them stay in business at all, it will benefit nobody to see beef producers decimated in the way they have been all spring and will contribute to an decrease in young people coming in to the industry.”