ICMSA say beef processors’ “old yarns and tricks” no longer work as reality shows farmers holding ‘all the cards’

“Processors have been forced to halt price pulling due to dwindling numbers, but some have sought to try ‘pull the wool over farmers eyes’ by quoting base prices of €7.00 for steers and €7.10 for heifers when 20 – 30c/kg more is freely available.  Processors should be ashamed to quote €7.00/kg base price for steers when they are giving up to €6.70c/kg flat for P and O grade Friesian cull cows. That leaves a prime underage P+3 Friesian steer at the same nominal value as a P grade cow.  How is this workable or explicable” asked Mr. O’Connell.

He said that for the past 10 days, processors have felt the pressure on supply due to the end of shed-finished cattle and a slow start to cattle coming from grass.  

‘The talk of numbers of cattle coming off grass at present is ridiculous; any steer, heifer or cow that was in any way forward this spring went into sheds to be finished, or in other cases, slaughtered straight out of marts’, according to Mr. O’Connell.  

“We have seen in the past month or so, kill plans being reduced as a means of controlling price and supply, but this can’t last forever and the demand for Irish beef across Europe is huge.  It’s hard to see an abundance of cattle for slaughter off grass this summer due to the explosive trade this spring. Farmers opted for the mart trade with cattle that should have been slaughtered off grass in the Third Quarter of the year as well as buoyant export trade in 2023 and 2024.

Procurement managers have conceded the fact that kill plans have reduced significantly due to factories knowing the availability of finished cattle is considerably tight.  In certain beef cattle ‘dense’ areas of the country – such as the midlands – a notable number of cattle are still coming out of sheds and although we would expect the numbers of cattle starting to come off grass to increase, it is likely to be lower than previous years”, said the ICMSA Chairperson and veteran observer of the beef trade.

“I’m sure factories are praying that ‘calendar beef farming’ 30-month age limit will convince farmers with January and February 2023 born cattle to consider slaughtering these shortly. But the weather is favourable and cattle are thriving well – there is no pressure on to kill them.  This week has seen a more vibrant mart trade with a clear appetite for forward and beef cattle.  Mart numbers have reduced significantly as they traditionally do in the month of June and this is adding extra pressure on factories to fill kill plans.  With marts considerably smaller for this time of year, it is putting extra pressure on factories to source beef cattle.  They’d be much better off just acknowledging the reality that we all see and go out and buy the cattle from farmers as opposed to going into the farmers’ yards and looking foolish by offering obviously below-par prices,” said Mr. O’Connell.

Noting that the numbers of cattle across Europe are at an all-time low, Mr. O’Connell stated that our live exports have never been as strong due to our Bluetongue-free status.

“We are sure that the volumes of 2023 and 2024 born cattle leaving the country has added to the pressures on processors.  Demand for Irish cattle is off the charts and is going to continue with predictions of the EU herd falling by a further 5 to 7% this year. I can talk all day long about the difference in prices between Ireland and UK but beating that drum is not what people are really concerned about.   What ICMSA and Irish farmers are concerned about is that Irish farmers receive a fair, competitive price for the cattle they work hard to produce to environmental and legislative regulations unheard of in any other country.   We are producing the best live cattle and beef in the world and that reality is recognised across Europe and the world – it’s high time that our own ‘big players’ in the processing business recognised it too.  We have had a number of weeks of unwarranted beef price cuts, but for the last fortnight, reality reasserted itself and we see the factories getting nervous about the numbers and unable to pull prices further. The pressure is on them; the old tricks and ruses aren’t working because the facts are just over-riding them. ICMSA’s advise is: keep possession and only sell when they are receiving the true value of the cattle”, said Mr. O’Connell.

“Study your options with finished cattle, whether it be mart or factory.  Loyalty to a processor is gone out the window after the charade of price cuts a few weeks ago. In that context, farmers should not take the first price offered to them by an agent after being told the age-old yarn about it being for you only and for tomorrow only. The pressure is off farmers with the improvement in the weather; cattle are content and thriving and majority of silage cut. By contrast, the pressure on processors has increased and we’re telling farmers to stand their ground on beef prices in the coming weeks.”

Ends    9 July 2025

Michael O’Connell, 086-8551015

Chairperson, ICMSA Livestock Committee

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press Office