FARMERS HAVE been urged to withhold cattle for slaughter where possible from Christmas until the end of January to force factories to pay more.
The boycott call came from the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, which said the time had come to stand up to the factories as farmers could not continue to produce animals at below cost.
Association beef chairman Seán Scully said he recognised this was a drastic call to make but he insisted that farmers had to take a stand.
“There has been a complete refusal by the processors to acknowledge that beef finishers are haemorrhaging money and facing bankruptcy,” he said.
The prices available over the past few months were far below break-even point, he added, and prices quoted on the new quality grid confirmed that factories had no intention of supporting a sustainable livestock sector.
Mr Scully said the minimum base price needed for mid-grade animals was €3.36/kg in order to prevent further losses. Instead it was set at € 2.83/kg.
