Factories Can and Must Do More on Beef Price – IFA
Declan Hanrahan IFA Livestock chair has expressed his dissatisfaction at factories attempts to undermine beef prices and needs to stop. He said that the demand for beef is expected to pick up over the coming months.
“This gap in prices with our most important market is not acceptable and must be closed. Volumes of beef sold into this market increased significantly in 2023 and grew a further 25% earlier this year, which must be reflected in beef prices to farmers.”
Mr. Hanrahan said EU beef production fell by 3.9% in 2023, with a further reduction of 2.3% predicted for the year. Consumption levels of beef are reasonably stable.
If Bord Bia calculations are correct, supplies of cattle here are projected to be back between now and year end by up to 60,000 head.
The IFA livestock chair said all of this points to strong and favourable conditions for beef, which must be returned to farmers by factories in higher prices.
“Farmers should sell hard and ignore the unfounded negativity on beef prices from factories and their agents.”