With a price differential in beef prices remaining between Britain and Northern Ireland, the UFU have said that DAERA should support the live export of cattle.

“For too long beef producers here have been kept at the bottom of the UK price league table. Last week, the difference between NI and GB on R3 steers was 24p/kg. On a 350 kg animal that is over £80,” UFU president Barclay Bell said in a statement on Thursday.

The union says that by encouraging the export of cattle for farmers to avail of higher prices, there would then be an increase in competition among local processors to secure cattle. The increased competition for Northern lambs from processors from the Republic of Ireland this summer due to the weakening of the euro has had this effect, Bell said.

He pointed out that securing access to live exports, particularly to Turkey, has been a priority for Agriculture Minister Michael Creed in the Republic of Ireland. “We believe the DAERA minister should follow that lead,” he added.

Questioned

The issue of why the beef price differential exists in the first place was also questioned again by the UFU. It was pointed out that cattle are supplied to the same quality assurance standard and end up in the same supermarket shelves and can also be supplied to the same processing companies, but a difference in price is paid.

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