Some beef farmers have put capital expenditure on hold and are undertaking a major analysis of their businesses at the moment, according to Eamon O’Reilly of AIB.

“However, if land or adjoining land comes up beside beef farmers, beef farmers are still in the market for that at the moment.

“They’re looking at the profitability of their business and looking at the sustainability of their business. They’re looking at if the income [on their farms] is going to be sustainable into the future,” he said.

O’Reilly said that AIB is seeing very strong demand from the dairy sector, with many existing dairy farmers looking at expanding.

“There’s an awful lot of interest from new entrants looking at 2020. With the current situation, a lot of beef farmers are exploring the possibility of going down the dairy sector,” he said.

Brexit

“When you look at any of the beef outlook reports for the short term and the possible impact that it could have, it’s very difficult for a beef farmer to have a lot of confidence in the market at the minute. A lot of investment decisions are being postponed and are being put on hold,” he said.

Outside of beef, Brexit is a concern in the background for dairy farmers, he said. Farmers are investing according to where their sector is at in the market.