July 6th 2015

ICSA beef chairman Edmond Phelan has welcomed confirmation that the next meeting of the beef roundtable group will take place on July 21st.

“This meeting of the roundtable is well overdue and must consider both existing and potential problems in the beef industry,” he said. “Latest data shows that 2015 calf births are up 6.6% to date and now is the time to plan for what will happen to those calves in 18 months time. An outlet must be found for them, and thus the issue of live exports is more pertinent than ever.”

“The forum must also discuss price discrimination on cattle over 30 months. The recent BSE case does not in any way nullify the validity of ICSA’s call for an end to this restriction, which has far outlived any relevance it may have had in the past. Isolated BSE cases may arise but should not dictate policy, and in this case, the only value of the 30-month restriction is as a means of keeping down prices paid to farmers.”