Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Future of the Beef Sector: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Mick O'Dowd:

Deputy Cahill also asked if the consumer wants this. Not all consumers want it. Consumers are driven by many different things, and as an exporter of 90% of our beef, we are consistently looking for differentiators in the market. There are consumers who are very driven by the environment and by consistency in eating quality. We feel we can bring all of the different attributes into it through this. It was mentioned that there was an insinuation against other merchants. There absolutely was not. It is because of the consumer-led drive for additional attributes to the beef that we are trying to bring a product to them, and this is the way we feel we can do it for a cohort of cattle.

I repeat that this is a small percentage of the overall kill from which we are trying to produce a package that can go to a customer. That is what is driving it.

I wish to make another point. From talking to our supply base - more than 10,000 farmers are supplying us - and from the beginning of our discussions with Glanbia, we wanted to have a solution for the suckler industry as well. Again, it is not the perfect solution but it is an effort to raise the output from those suckler herds. For suckler farmers who are prepared to finish their progeny under the programme and to take in a minimum of 25 calves from the dairy herd, all of their progeny are eligible under the pricing structure we have outlined. We feel it is a start to bringing a solution to that industry as well.

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