15th October, 2013

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association is questioning the price of concentrate feedstuffs and calling on milling companies to reduce their prices in line with the falling prices of the main ingredients.

ICSA beef committee chair, Edmond Phelan said, “Compared to this time last year, the cost of grain is down about 26 per cent and soya is down 25 per cent. However, the cost of a tonne of beef finishing ration is only down about 10 per cent – from €320 last year to in or around €290 now. Realistically, even taking into consideration the costs of labour and delivery, the price to the farmer should be down about another 10 per cent to reflect the fall in input costs.”

“It is only right that the fall in commodity prices would be passed on to farmers by the milling companies and I would call on them to do so without delay.”