A number of ‘pulls’ on livestock prices which have occurred in recent weeks on the part of the processing enterprises have angered the farming organisations. All of them have appealed to the factories to revise these moves as it is apparent that stocking rates are in decline.
Reducing the prices that are being paid is a rather regular matter on the part of the processors but stretching the capacity of farmers to continue to provide stock is already having a damaging effect on the market.
The Chairman of the IFA’s Lifestock Committee Declan Hanrahan warns that Bord Bia has released projections that suggest that more than 100,000 fewer cattle are likely to be presented at the factories before the rest of the year had come. This is partially because of a surge in live exports to the EU and UK where domestic supplies are dwindling and in the meantime, the deleterious effects of the Mercusor Treaty remain a very active threat.
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This is a theme of some observations made by the Rural Development Chairman at the ICSA Edmond Phelan earlier in the month when he mused on the subject of the many problems confronting farmers into the future.
He expressed particular worries that the weight of expectation and the burdens of adapting measures to achieve the prescribed targets for emissions may well empty the country of farmers altogether.
If this were to happen, it was constitute a very hollow victory for the environment and the country would have lost its significant income and reputation as a provider of quality food.
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