Mr. Derrie Dillon:

I have a final comment. The reality is that if we want to attract the next generation of young beef farmers they need a degree of economic certainty. If someone cannot make money they will not go into that business. Farmers are the only ones in the food supply chain without a degree of certainty. They borrow money for stock without knowing the price they will get. They are not sure what specifications they need to finish them to or what kind of margin they can expect. They have no contract with anyone and no guarantee when they go out to buy that stock. The processor has a contract with the retailer. The retailer knows the consumer will go into their shop and purchase that product because the retailer does not offer the consumer choice. The farmer, and especially the young farmer, is looking at a business model that has absolutely no certainty in it whatsoever. That business is not attractive to anyone and that is why young beef farmers are not going into the business. There will only be a viable and sustainable beef sector when a degree of certainty and some kind of contract exists whereby farmers know what they are required to produce and get a fair margin for producing it. When that happens, young people will go into the sector with no problem. The way it is at the moment, without contract or certainty, is the nub of the issue from an economic point of view. All the other points that have been made are important and have merit but, at the end of the day, farmers must make money and people will vote with their feet on those terms.