Sligo expert says €100 per head beef price fall due to ‘Factory Dominance’
A WELL know Enniscrone farmer and ICMSA Livestock Committee Chairperson has pointed to a fall of approximately €100 per head over the last eight weeks for which he said there was “no logical explanation at all beyond the complete dominance of the factories”, Des Morrison that it highlighted again the need for a live export alternative for finished cattle. From mid-May to the end of June, Mr. Morrison said that the prices being paid for steers and heifers had fallen by that amount without any corresponding increase in the numbers of animals going to slaughter either immediately prior to or during the period in question. In fact, as he pointed out the kill numbers remained approximately constant throughout the period while corresponding UK prices actually firmed up.
“Not for the first time, farmers are left highly suspicious of the basis for a price cut that is unsupported by any data or statistics. Put as clearly as the situation warrants, meat plants should be supporting their suppliers during this difficult period rather than reducing beef prices. ICMSA does not accept the idea that the current drought is an explanation or basis for the sudden decision to cut price. It looks to farmers very much like a business decision to drop our prices for no reason other than to increase factory profit margins. What makes this even more reprehensible is that it is difficult to recall a time when farmers needed strong prices more, there are serious problems now arising on an almost daily basis and this kind of price cut really compounds the problems and makes a very challenging situation even more difficult. Is this the factories idea of loyalty to their farmer-suppliers?”