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Frustrated sheep farmers aired their grievances over factory prices, lamb imports and a lack of Government support for the sector at an IFA regional crisis meeting in Tinahely, Co Wicklow, on Wednesday night.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) general manager James Smyth dodged questions on the processor’s UK lamb carcase imports and came under fire for its Celtic Isle brand, which he acknowledged does not always include Irish lamb.
Smyth warned that a carryover of hoggets from the backend of 2022 will see an additional 70,000 lambs for processing this spring. This, he said, combined with reduced consumer demand and an influx of UK and Australian lamb into EU markets, will put pressure on sheep prices.
However, Smyth insisted “[ICM] would not survive” without its sheep farmers and explained prices are still ahead of where they were pre-pandemic.
Government support
Sheep farmers from Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow also warned that Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue had turned his back on the sector, which they said is a vital contributor to the region’s rural economy.
On Teagasc analysis that sheep farmers made a margin of €7/ewe in 2022, Kildare sheep chair Denis Halpin said, “you wouldn’t give it to a child for a pack of sweets.”
Wexford and Carlow IFA chairs Jer O’Mahony and John Nolan warned that farmers are moving to offload ewes and said that there is no longer a living to be made in sheep farming as a sole enterprise.
Meeting host and Wicklow IFA chair Tom Byrne further described how, at the margin of €7/ewe, a sheep farmer would need thousands of ewes to make a reasonable income.
It is understood the meeting was not organised by IFA head office, with Laois farmer Henry Burns criticising the association’s leadership for what he described as “failure” to support sheep farmers.
However, south Leinster IFA chair and potential leadership candidate at this year’s election, Francie Gorman, was handed the mic early on to call for Bord Bia to do more to promote Irish lamb abroad.
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