Irish farmers are calling for a bigger share of retail meat sales profit to cover the high input costs on farms.
Farmers believe beef prices need to reach €5/kg for them to maintain parity with 2020 incomes and cover increased costs.
IFA Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden, said beef prices have moved on by 5c-10c/kg last week but are still behind the strong growth of key export market returns.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA) said beef prices for R3 cattle need to rise to €5/kg to cover increasing input costs.
ICSA Beef Chair Edmund Graham added: “It is now urgent that meat factories pass on these increased costs to supermarkets.
“There are farmers in the beef sector that have seen deductions as a result of having to return BEAM scheme money and further reductions will apply in some cases in 2022.”
According to figures based on the 2020 Teagasc National Farm Survey, beef prices would need to increase at least 30 per cent compared to 2020 to maintain low incomes of beef and suckler farmers.
The average family farm income is €14,800 on beef farms and €9,000 on suckler farms.
LSL News.