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THE IRISH FARMERS’ Association (IFA) has said that retailers and the EU Commission must be part of discussions between the meat industry and the Beef Plan Movement.
Talks will take place today aimed at ending the ongoing dispute over beef prices.
“While the factories are the main problem, the retailer has a dominant role in the dysfunctional food chain that is not working for beef farmers. They need to be around the table tomorrow to account for their actions and to outline how they intend to address the problem,” IFA President Joe Healy said.
Speaking at the Tullamore Show, Healy said that the EU Commission must explain why it’s allowing imports to threaten the EU beef market.
“New EU legislation on the Agri Markets Task Force needs to be implemented here. It will require a new state agency with robust oversight and resources to enforce it,” he added.
Over the past couple of weeks, multiple protests organised by the Beef Plan Movement have taken place in 22 sites across the country. The group has been set up by farmers who argue that they’re not getting value for money for their cattle.
Talks between Meat Industry Ireland and the group were announced late on Friday evening – all protests will be suspended until the talks have concluded.
The IFA is also calling for the immediate payout of the €100 million Brexit compensation package for beef and suckler farmers announced in July.
Also speaking at the Tullamore Show, IFA Treasurer Tim Cullinan said that the industry is in “free fall”.
“If the €100m Brexit fund is paid out immediately it will put some confidence into mart sales and store prices,” he said.
“The announcement of a €100 million Brexit fund was late coming in the first place, given the scale and duration of the beef crisis, and any further delay is intolerable and unnecessary,” Cullinan added.
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100 million Brexit fund ? What about all the other industries ? I wish I had a job that gave me free EU payments . Why do farmers get cheap fuel, constant government grants , EU aid when the rest of us don’t ? If farming is so hard go get another job like the rest of us have too !
@Clinton Slowey: couldn’t agree more. If I have a job that doesn’t pay the bills then I have go get one that does.
@Clinton Slowey: without the eu grants and the so called “cheap diesel” your steak would be €25 per kg in the shops. Eu grant system is all over the eu and is designed to create good quality food “cheap” for all of the population in the eu.
I’m sure you wouldn’t complain if your steak doubled in price!
@Bull McCabe: Grants wouldn’t be needed if farmers were paid equitably for their product. There is more than enough money raised from beef sales. Farmers just aren’t getting it.
@Clinton Slowey: how much are you willing to pay for your beef?
@Clinton Slowey: because they feed us Clinton!! and the race to the bottom world that we live in which is completely controlled by corporations and criminals supported by governments has made it so a farmer can not survive without these supplements and pretty soon your job will be the same, you will need to work and get a fis payment just to exist.
@Sean: 100% correct
@Clinton Slowey:
https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2019/National-Farm-Survey-Preliminary-Results-2018.php
average farm family income is just over 8000 for some of the cattle rearing farms.
@Tim Pot: then steak should be 25€ /kg
The cost is the cost, if people want Irish steak from grass fed cows, they will have to pay what it’s worth.
@Clinton Slowey: Whatever you’re getting you’re getting too much. How do you think we have such top class food at such reasonable prices. Try a little joined up thinking for a change. In the North-West here I don’t know a single farmer who doesn’t have another income subsiding his farming
@Clinton Slowey: Lets breakdown your post.
“100 million Brexit fund? What about all the other industries?” what about this grant of up to 5k for SMEs? https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/funding-supports/Company/Esetablish-SME-Funding/Be-Prepared.html
“I wish I had a job that gave me free EU payments”. Farmers don’t get free EU payments, EU meat production is subsidised to make it cheaper for you the consumer. The money the farmers get, is means tested on the amount of animals on their farm, its not “free EU money”.
“Why do farmers get cheap fuel, constant government grants , EU aid when the rest of us don’t ?”. There is noting to stop you from buying green diesel at the pumps, however its not just used for farming, its used in construction too, or any diesel engine that doesn’t have to pay the normal rate of motor tax. If you were running a diesel generator, should you be using the diesel with the higher rate of motor tax? Of course not, so why should a tractor that spends 12 hours a day in a field pay it? Many industries in Ireland get both government and EU grands, not just farming.
“If farming is so hard go get another job like the rest of us have too!” Ok, so what about teachers, nurses and guards? Those three are also under paid, so should we tell all of them to just quit and get a “better” job, or to fight their corner?
@Do the Bort man: Imports will reduce prices! Let’s do it.
@Clinton Slowey: What cheap fuel? I’d give you a week farming and you’d be delighted to get back to your own job.
Bull Mc Cabe . Why should only beef be subsidised over other proteins .
@David Grey: this is just the start. The beef farmers got together to tackle their issues. It’s the same in all farming be it lamb,poultry,pigs,dairy,cereals or vegetables. The farmer is forced to produce food cheap and is at the mercy of factories and supermarkets.
@Bull McCabe: Beef is much cheaper on the world market, so a steak would be much cheaper!
@m flynsk: Imports are a slap in the face to the EU farmers. After the BSE problems in the 1990s billions was spent to make meat traceable from farm to fork in the EU. You buy a bugger in McDonalds, the meat can be traced be back to the individual animal, and all the data including when the animal was tested, and all the medicines it received throughout its life. Why should EU beef farmers’ hard work for decades be thrown away by allowing beef that does not meet this criteria into the EU market place?
FFG will take a massive hit in the next election. They’re destroying the farming livelihoods of so many in rural ire
@Frank Lloyd wright: the protestors have placards saying ‘stop EU beef imports now’…do they understand how the EU works?…and if we stop the EU imports will we stop the EU grants too?
@Frank Lloyd wright: If you think that’s going to happen you need To go back to bed.
Farmers are always looking for handouts
@tubbsyf: they are actually looking for a fair price for their produce, not handouts.
@tubbsyf: Farmers are never at fault. There’s always someone else to blame. Brazilian imports, retailers, EU agriculture policy, the weather, so called beef barons. The farm industry has been using taxpayers funds to protect prices for decades.
Free competition is needed.
Stop listening to farmer lobby groups.
Lister to the rest of us for a change.
@m flynsk: you really haven’t a clue what you are talking about.
How about we all stop eating beef, and problem is solved!
@Simey Joyce: Exactly! Let the farmers move to something with a bigger margin, funnel the EU grants to something else. Beef is full of fat, messes with cholesterol levels anyway.
@Simey Joyce: Eh.. no.
@Peadar O’Comain: You must buy crappy beef.
Why don’t the IFA farmers come to Dublin to protest outside the major supermarkets and see how many people happily ignore them. Irish beef is no different in quality from other beef produced in the EU. It is not rocket science…
Their core problem is their complete lack of economy of scale. Too many small farms…
..
@Lar Meyler: beef is €20 per kg in supermarkets in the eu. It’s half that price here. This is where the problem is! Supermarkets heavily discounting beef to get the consumer into the shop at a cost to the farmer.
@Bull McCabe: Diced beef or burger meat may be around that price but definitely not roast, steaks etc.
If you have links to prove otherwise, please.post..
@Lar Meyler: look up any euro supermarket prices
@Bull McCabe: sell your beef elsewhere so…there’s a whole European market out there.
@Bull McCabe: I did. Why don’t you post them if they support your stance.
@Bull McCabe: Most of us never heard of Euro Supermarket. Please post links from Lidl, Tesco or Dunnes which support your stance.
@Lar Meyler: in my local supermarket the other day T-bone, rump, sirloin and fillet steak was all 50% off. This happens regularly when supermarkets use prime beef cuts to lure customers and pay the farmers accordingly
@Bull McCabe: And the benifit of the consumer. Thats their business as it is the farmers. If you dont get the price you want dont sell the animal.
How about the consumer having a say. After all they pay twice for their beef. once in the supermarket/butchers and the second in paying the farmer their “entitlements”
@Philip Howlin: What an ignorant comment. The price you pay for beef is subsidised by the EU to keep the prices down for you the consumer.
Unfortunately, the dominant retailers will do what is right by their shareholders. The low price of beef is extremely beneficial to the consumer. What about sheep prices???? It’s currently unaffordable to the ordinary consumer. What are you going to do to help the Irish consumer buy Irish lamb. I for one would support the importation of reasonably priced lamb.
Could someone please put up a good beef farming financial chart, so i can make an educated comment.
@Dave Walsh: You have lies, damn lies, statistics and the annual Teagasc farm income survey by a vested interest in the farm industry. Farm land at record prices purchased by those “earning a pittance”, etc etc. backed up by recent press comments on the investments of one Tipperary farmer.
@Dave Walsh: an educated comment from anyone not connected to farming would be a refreshing change!
The Sacred cow and the Dairy Farmer.
A Dairy farmer is probably the most important, person on the planet and receives some of the least earnings, 70% of the world depend on milk, cheese cream and other dairy products. Dairy farmers/workers have to rise out of bed early to milk their cows, and then are depending on fetching a decent price for their product, Cows need to be impregnated and get pregnant to produce milk, calves are born and reared for a period of time then sold off to a beef farmer who fattens the up for sale to meat producers.
Again depending on market prices whether or not a profit is materialized, The meat is processed and sold on, butchers etc. And as a butcher by trade, I can ask this question.
Who really makes the most money, out of it all ?. There is very little left to waste. But the hide, pelt, (skin of both beef and sheep, and other animals) can return hefty profits for some, as in shoes, coats, bags, belts, etc. Many items fetching Thousands of Euro’s dollars etc
Imagine if a Dairy farmer, Beef farmer, even the butchers, was to receive a tiny percentage, from all concerned along the way, from the beef farmer, dairy producers, butchers, tanners, to the cobbler and more. That would give some a nice extra income,
It sickens me when actors etc get paid every time they are on screen, in repeats, or sports stars doing promotions adds etc. Imagine if your electrician charged you every time you turned on your lights, TV, computer, cooker, microwave, fridge etc, Or the plumber charged for every shower, bath, every flush of the toilet, using a garden hose etc, or the carpenter when you opened or closed a door, window walked on the floor. We take all these for granted, and they the low earners.
But don’t seemly have a problem, handing over money, to go to movies theaters, pay outlandish prices for clothing or attire, for some celebrities name or image on it, I know a number of people that are happy to pay a TV subscription of over €100.00 a month, for movie, sports channels, a similar expense on phones, and yet can be behind in rent utility bills, short of food, and decent clothing.
Television has been the great influence in our lives for close on or more than 70 years. But there is very little new out there, so many repeats, some on a weekly basis, Shown on a Sunday again on a Thursday. The same actors and crew getting paid over and over again. Making some very rich indeed.
Chat show hosts, getting outrageous money for a couple of hours work, whether they are actually entertaining or not, There are enough companies paying for Add minutes between breaks, who depend on the exposure, to pay for the lot, the host crew, , tv license etc etc, the add’s interruption of shows, can actually be construed as an invasion of your privacy, of an invasion of your, enjoyment, a means to mind suggestion and mental control, if they induce you to react and purchase, or contribute. Some companies should be taken to court in a class action suit, by people who have been influenced by their manipulation of you in your own house, or where ever you are watching.
The phone networks are another example of been manipulated, with all these plans they are promoting, If one doesn’t make that many calls or sent many texts in a month, it can work out very expensive for the calls and texts that are made, they offer a Data allowance, but very often, unavailable when actually needed.
I have yet to enjoy a full weekend of the free Data allowance that I am supposed to enjoy.
Took them long enough to figure out why they aren’t getting paid for their beef. Do they never watch the aldi ads, families allegedly saving hundreds of euro a month on food bills, and ‘all their beef is irish’. Took these farm organisations long enough to start to figure out that the reason for cheap beef is — cheap beef.
This is more that just the price of beef. When a farmer sends an animal for slaughter, they are basically just paid per kg for the meat. They are not paid for the offal, which gets made into dog and cat food. They are not paid for the hides, which gets made into leather.
Why has your man got his fists up,he’s not going to hit a lad with glasses is he?
Sounds like the deal will be charge the consumer more as no one will want to give up their share
Farmers giving the poor mouth (rolls eyes).
Nice to see The I F A AND THE FARMERS JOURNAL HAVE COME ALIVE ON THE ISSUES
The solution is simple – if the retailers take a euro less out of their 50% mark up and return it to the producers in line with their “Faretrade” cant
have your say