Beef farmers in Ireland should sell hard to factories

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Livestock Committee chair, Brendan Golden, has said that beef farmers should “sell hard” and resist efforts by meat factories “to drag down prices”. He said that beef farmers will not be fooled by “the usual factory propaganda” in attempts to control the market place. “The behaviour of some factories in trying to reduce quotes shows no regard for farmers who have made huge investments in finishing cattle over the winter months. “Factories are acutely aware of how tight beef supplies are. They’re trying to manipulate the situation by reducing throughput. This is unacceptable and must stop. “Beef prices must reflect the reality of the market place and the increased demand in higher prices,” Golden said. Advertisement Beef The IFA Livestock chair said that Bord Bia has predicted supplies of beef cattle will be down by 60,000 head this year, with all of this reduction taking place in the first half of the year. He said that Teagasc figures ...