Beef processors have “moved too far and too fast in cutting prices”, according to the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) beef and lamb chair, Brendan Kelly.
The union added that the continued fall in beef prices is pushing family farm businesses into “an unsustainable position”, whilst retailer and supermarket prices “remain unchanged”.
Kelly said that processors’ price cuts are “leaving beef farmers to carry the pressure while costs remain stubbornly high”.
He added: “Beef farmers are extremely frustrated and deeply concerned at the speed and scale of recent price cuts.
“Prices have fallen sharply in a matter of weeks, yet farmers are still facing high fuel, fertiliser, feed, labour and energy costs.
“That gap is becoming impossible for many farm businesses to absorb.”
Kelly noted that processors are pointing to rising operating and energy costs linked to global instability, “but farmers are facing the very same pressures”.
He said: “The difference is that farmers have little or no ability to recover those costs from the marketplace.
“They are price takers, not price makers, and right now they are being squeezed from every direction whilst supermarkets continue to sell at the same price if not higher.”
Pressure
The UFU said there is a “growing belief among beef producers that processors have over-corrected the market, putting pressure back onto primary producers at a time when confidence in the sector is already fragile”.
Kelly added: “Some farmers are now losing £350 or more on finished cattle.
“That is not a small adjustment. That is a serious loss for a family farm business and it cannot be dismissed as part of normal market movement.
“Processors need farmers, and farmers need processors. But this relationship only works if both sides are viable.
“If processors continue to drive prices down at this pace, there will be consequences. Fewer farmers will be willing or able to finish cattle, and the future of local beef production will be put at risk.”
The UFU said Northern Ireland beef farmers produce “a world-class product” to high standards of animal welfare, traceability and environmental responsibility.
The union said that this must be recognised in the returns farmers receive.
Kelly said: “Our members are not asking for special treatment.
“They are asking for a fair return for the work, risk and investment that goes into producing beef.
“Family farms cannot continue to absorb rising costs while watching the price they receive fall week after week.”
“The message from beef farmers is clear. Processors must reconsider the scale and pace of these cuts before lasting damage is done to the sector.”
Kelly warned of the consequences if prices continue to drop.
“If prices continue to fall, there will inevitably be fewer beef family farms in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“That is bad for farmers, bad for processors, bad for rural communities and bad for local food production.”
The UFU said it will continue to engage directly with processors and retailers “to ensure the concerns of beef farmers are heard and that market returns better reflect the reality on the ground”.