€6/kg is ‘absolute minimum’ beef price for winter finishers to seek in Ireland

“€6/kg is the absolute minimum beef price winter finishers should be pushing for in spring 2023,” the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association’s (ICSA’s) beef chairperson Edmund Graham has said. Graham said unless this price is secured for beef cattle finished over the winter months, “winter finishers are looking at very bleak prospects”. “Factory prices will have to increase steadily throughout the first few months of 2023 for finishers to have any chance of breaking even”. He added that Teagasc has “conservatively estimated” the cost of production for winter beef to be “around €6/kg”. ICSA 2022 beef review Commenting on 2022, Graham said the early part of the year saw the beef trade pick up after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Demand took off and prices rose as the meat factories struggled for supplies to meet the increased demand. Things were looking reasonably good until Russia invaded Ukraine. Advertisement The ICSA beef chair remarked that prices continued strong ...