Beef Plan regional chair Enda Fingleton has defended a letter to Irish and UK supermarkets that claims Bord Bia is “misleading” them about Ireland’s grass-fed beef.

The letter refers to Irish farmers “force-feeding” cattle to reach under-30-month targets for beef. It was sent to Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Musgraves, Dunnes, Sainsbury’s and Asda.

It reads: “At the moment we feel that a certain organisation who approve the quality of Irish beef is misleading the supermarket chains and the public about our grass-fed product. If we got the 30-month rule changed here in Ireland, we could be producing better grass-fed animals with far less force feeding with grains and cereals”.

The letter the Beef Plan sent to Irish and UK supermarkets.

The letter was sent by the Beef Plan retail and markets committee of Fingleton, Brendan Barry, Michael McManus and Kieran Delaney and not seen by some of the Beef Plan’s national committee before being sent.

Asked if he had concerns about describing Bord Bia as “misleading” and using the term “force-feeding” of cattle in the letter, Fingleton said he “would have worded it in a different way, but my point would still be the same – Irish farmers should be allowed to finish cattle in a more natural way. The 30-month rule puts a sell-by date on a live animal.”