Six-year high in cattle prices

Senior management from all the major beef processing companies attended a meeting of the Beef Taskforce, last week.

There was a detailed discussion around current market developments as well as some key opportunities and challenges that face the beef sector in the medium to long term.

The major focus of a discussion on medium and long-term challenges and opportunities centred on:

the need for all stakeholders to collectively engage in promoting the positive role of beef as a nutritious staple in a healthy balanced diet, to counter negative and often misleading campaigns around meat consumption and competition from meat alternatives;

highlighting the existing strong sustainability credentials of Irish grass-based beef production and engaging positively on emission mitigation measures that will see our sector as part of the climate change solution;

the redoubling of efforts to drive international market access for Irish beef, particularly in South-East Asia where Bord Bia points to consumption growth potential and future export opportunities;

the importance of the Irish Government holding a strong line on EU trade and CAP negotiations to prevent the undermining of domestic Irish and EU beef production and also being alert to the threats presented by future UK bilateral trade deals challenging the position of Irish beef in the important British market.