Farmer Writes: 14 Friesian bullocks wouldn't buy you a hen house now

The €100m beef fund. My first thought is that it’s money better off in this country than out of it.

I would be of the opinion that if the finishers get it, a lot of the money will invariably make its way back to the suckler farmers. Who else is going back to buy the stores?

The reality is fewer and fewer people are finishing cattle. Feedlots or specialised finishers are here to stay and factories are here to stay. Whether you like it or not, this is a commercial reality.

East v west

Do we need the suckler cow in the west?

I certainly appreciate the work and expertise the suckler farmers put into their cattle.

Where do we go to buy our heifers, only the west, but ours being a store to finishing grass-based farm, would we miss those good suckler calves? It’s a discussion I had with a few people lately.

Technically, as trading farms who buy and sell our stock on the open market, we would, as any business would, change with the times.

We are constantly told if the suckler cow leaves the west, it’s finished, but what about the east of the country?

It’s getting harder and harder to farm in urban areas in a modern Ireland. Traffic and urban sprawl are a hurdle for your everyday jobs.

We are being swarmed by Dublin. We might not like it, but jobs and houses are needed for a growing population. No matter what spatial strategies are dreamt up, people still flock to the city.

Maybe no matter how many suckler cows were in the west, it could not halt this trend

Forty years ago, the area between the N2 and the coast was full of prime beef. Now, nearly every field has a crop of one description or another in it.

But there are still probably more cattle on farms in the area than entire parishes elsewhere.

If these specialised farmer-owned and farmer-run finishing units are put out of business, who will buy the stores?

These finishers are being squeezed too and it’s the pressures of the trade that have forced them to get bigger or get out.

It’s a game of percentages now and increasing numbers is the only way to make it work. You either get bigger or get out.

Change

I’m 20 years – at least – listening to the experts charged with marketing our beef saying that prices will change for the better and market outlooks are improving.

'This or that market is going to open up, it’s a very wealthy emerging market, they all want to eat our beef.'

Come back to me when there are container loads of beef and lamb on the high seas.

But the reality is we are a selling nation and we are price-takers, not price-makers.

'It’s an ultra-competitive market and a few cent per kg difference can be the difference between selling containers of beef or not,' they say.

'It’s a niche market, they want a grass-based suckler-bred product reared outdoors,' they say.

I’m less and less inclined to believe this as the years go by and the price the farmer receives remains the same, or actually in real terms, way less.

When I started going out with Fiona, her dad told me that he bought his first house in Blanchardstown after he sold a load of 14 Friesian bullocks. You wouldn’t buy a hen house now with the proceeds of 14 Friesian bullocks.

Dreaming

Maybe we are better off feeding good-quality dairy-bred stock, mincing the whole lot and shifting product rather than continually dreaming about the €200/kg steak.

At the end of the day, price is what the consumer makes their decision on.

I see in one of our local supermarkets, one that continuously advertises itself as supporting Irish product, they now have a branded fridge at the end of the fresh meat counter.

It’s full of yellow breaded chicken in all shapes and sizes, not a word on its origin, no country flag or farmer's face plastered all over it portraying a green and ethically-produced image.

It's cheap and cheerful, and by god it shifts.

Imported

I Googled the product name and the company’s website.

The company says they were tired of seeing inferior product being sold in Ireland, after working in the poultry business for 20 years. They now source the chicken in the Netherlands.

None of this is mentioned on the fridge. Its only selling point is the price.

Everything changes, but one thing remains the same.

Price and price pressure is the key driver in markets. If Ireland stopped beef production in the morning, would we be missed off the world stage?

I’m not for running. We just have to face the reality that maybe the cow’s days are numbered.

Environmentally, cattle numbers and fertiliser usage are going to put the squeeze on us anyway.

Joe Public’s taxes across Europe are paying for all these schemes/funds and he who pays the piper plays the tune.

Joe Public

There has to be a massive onus on the general population to change their lifestyle habits to care more for the environment.

We as farmers are custodians of the environment, yet we are being singled out repeatedly as the bad guys.

Politicians will be slow to blame Joe Public because it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

What’s another load of cows up the ramp in the factory?

'Oh I hate the thoughts of the poor little animals being killed… but if it means we can take three foreign holidays instead of two, feck the cows.'

Take the money from Brussels and run. Agree on a payment plan now and get that money. Plenty of business people would love to be paid a subsidy to scale back their business, so they tell me.

Is it right? I don’t know, but take the money anyway. It’s better in the country than out of it.

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