A direct package must be secured to make up for the beef price losses for winter finishers on the back of COVID-19 and Brexit inflicted market disturbances this spring.
That is the view of IFA national livestock chairman, Brendan Golden, who said that figures show winter finishers selling cattle have taken a battering on beef price in the order of €200/head, when compared to the pre-Brexit and pre-COVID-19 prices.
‘Many winter finishers will not survive after this spring’
“Without a direct payment to make up for these price losses, many winter finishers will not survive after this spring, which has been financially horrendous,” he said.
Over the nine-week period from March 16th to May 17th, the figures show that the COVID-19-related losses were €21.22m, or about €2.5m per week.
In addition to this, he added, finishers have incurred Brexit-related price cuts and calculated from Jan 1st to May 17th; these amount to €89.8m, or approximately €4.5m/week.
