The IFA is protesting at the Tesco retail distribution centre in Donabate, Co Dublin, on Monday morning to make a stand against the poor price of beef Irish farmers are getting at the moment, Dublin IFA chair Philip Maguire has said.
“Prices have risen across Europe, prices have risen in the UK and other parts of the world and they’re not moving here. If they are, it’s only very little and it’s not enough.
“If the price doesn’t rise, the protests more than likely will continue.
“As Tesco say themselves, every little helps, but in this case we need a significant price rise. There’s enough money in this industry for everyone to get their fair share out of it and farmers aren’t getting their fair share out of it,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Cattle and turkey farmer Padraig McMahon said the IFA was protesting over the way that the retailers treat farmers and the way that they discount their prices.
“They make us feel like we’re valueless. We’re producing good food, we’re producing it all year round and we’re producing it to the highest standards and then they can come along and they can discount our foods, they can sell turkeys at €8 and we have to put up with it. But we’re not doing that anymore. We’re telling them we need a proper price for our food and our beef and other produce.
The IFA is holding a third protest on Monday outside the Tesco central distribution centre in Donabate, Co Dublin. \ Amy Forde
“A proper price is a living wage. Our standards that we have need to be met and a proper price for our beef would be €4/kg to €4.20/kg that we were getting a couple of years ago. At the moment, it’s on €3.50 to €3.55,” he said.
Derisory offer
IFA president Joe Healy said that farmers were protesting in continuation of what they were doing last week because there’s been no significant price increase.
“There’s no reason why there isn’t a price increase. What was offered last Friday is derisory and anyway what was offered last Friday?
“A statement came out first that had no figure on it. A statement was leaked to some sections of the media that had 5c/kg on it.
"Talking to agents, they were of the opinion it was 10c and I think the fourth answer is probably the right answer, 5c on heifers on 10c on steers. But it just smacks of the typical lack of transparency that’s in the beef sector and we need to get beyond that.
“The Bord Bia price index is a clear way now for a bit of transparency and we need the processors to follow that and track that and get a significant price increase back to farmers,” he said.
Haulier view
Gerard Lynagh from Lucey Transport said he was supposed to load out of Donabate for Cork and that that load has now been lost.
“This load here I’m going to have to take it back to Greenogue, so I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of the day.
“I’ll get paid for this load, but I’ll not get paid for the load I’m supposed to lift in there for Cork. That will be a big day’s work lost, down to Cork,” he said, adding that there will be implications into Tuesday for him too.
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The IFA is protesting at the Tesco retail distribution centre in Donabate, Co Dublin, on Monday morning to make a stand against the poor price of beef Irish farmers are getting at the moment, Dublin IFA chair Philip Maguire has said.
“Prices have risen across Europe, prices have risen in the UK and other parts of the world and they’re not moving here. If they are, it’s only very little and it’s not enough.
“If the price doesn’t rise, the protests more than likely will continue.
“As Tesco say themselves, every little helps, but in this case we need a significant price rise. There’s enough money in this industry for everyone to get their fair share out of it and farmers aren’t getting their fair share out of it,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Cattle and turkey farmer Padraig McMahon said the IFA was protesting over the way that the retailers treat farmers and the way that they discount their prices.
“They make us feel like we’re valueless. We’re producing good food, we’re producing it all year round and we’re producing it to the highest standards and then they can come along and they can discount our foods, they can sell turkeys at €8 and we have to put up with it. But we’re not doing that anymore. We’re telling them we need a proper price for our food and our beef and other produce.
The IFA is holding a third protest on Monday outside the Tesco central distribution centre in Donabate, Co Dublin. \ Amy Forde
“A proper price is a living wage. Our standards that we have need to be met and a proper price for our beef would be €4/kg to €4.20/kg that we were getting a couple of years ago. At the moment, it’s on €3.50 to €3.55,” he said.
Derisory offer
IFA president Joe Healy said that farmers were protesting in continuation of what they were doing last week because there’s been no significant price increase.
“There’s no reason why there isn’t a price increase. What was offered last Friday is derisory and anyway what was offered last Friday?
“A statement came out first that had no figure on it. A statement was leaked to some sections of the media that had 5c/kg on it.
"Talking to agents, they were of the opinion it was 10c and I think the fourth answer is probably the right answer, 5c on heifers on 10c on steers. But it just smacks of the typical lack of transparency that’s in the beef sector and we need to get beyond that.
“The Bord Bia price index is a clear way now for a bit of transparency and we need the processors to follow that and track that and get a significant price increase back to farmers,” he said.
Haulier view
Gerard Lynagh from Lucey Transport said he was supposed to load out of Donabate for Cork and that that load has now been lost.
“This load here I’m going to have to take it back to Greenogue, so I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of the day.
“I’ll get paid for this load, but I’ll not get paid for the load I’m supposed to lift in there for Cork. That will be a big day’s work lost, down to Cork,” he said, adding that there will be implications into Tuesday for him too.
Read more
IFA targets Tesco in third retailer protest
IFA protest at Charleville: ‘This will go on until beef prices rise’
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