Beef farmers continue to face an uncertain future after one of the main recommendations of a major report on the sector was described as unworkable by meat processors.

Michael Dowling, the chair of the Beef Activation Group, told this week’s beef forum meeting in Dublin that formalised contracts between farmers and processors could be established as a way of creating security for beef farmers.

This comes in the wake of the difficult price landscape in which beef farmers have been operating since the end of last year.

However, the body which represents the country’s meat processors has played down the prospects of more formalised contracts, saying that they are unworkable in the current market.

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) chairman Ciaran Fitzgerald said: “The capacity for wider use of contract purchasing arrangements depends on similar arrangements being available to processors with customers in the marketplace, and these are not readily available, particularly due to the fact that the cuts from any one carcase are marketed across many markets and customers.”

Commenting on the report, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said: “Michael Dowling’s report is an excellent roadmap for where we take our work from here and I am interested in feedback from all stakeholders on his recommendations.”

The Minister must now respond to MII’s assertions.

Dowling was tasked with reviewing the Beef Activation Group report (part of Food Harvest 2020) – in particular its implementation and identifying areas requiring change. There were a total of 21 recommendations, including:

  • Improved transparency and timely communication on price and market specification, particularly between suppliers and processors.
  • A formalised mechanism for ensuring that research, breeding and education remains consistent with evolving market realities.
  • Rewarding farmers who produce animals to market specification in a manner which incentivises such production.
  • The possibility of more formalised contract arrangements between factories and their suppliers.

    • One of the more interesting recommendations in Dowling’s report is the use of legislation to make producer groups mandatory. The report suggests that producer groups can obtain the highest price possible.

    IFA president Eddie Downey told Minister Coveney at Tuesday’s forum that if his beef forum was to have any credibility with farmers, basic issues on beef price and the Quality Payment System (QPS) must be addressed. He also called for resolution of the problems denying access to the live export trade to Northern Ireland and Britain.

    The full set of recommendations can be found here.