Nicky McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 768: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his views on recent centralised movement monitoring system, CMMS, data showing the reduction of 177,000 cattle in the country; his further views on the tight nature of finished cattle supplies at present; and the impact that this is having on prices for farmers. [23519/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Animal Identification and Movement (AIM formerly CMMS) system is a generic traceability system that allows my Department to track trends in the bovine population. The most recent data on the cattle herd profile sourced from the AIM system shows that there was a reduction of over 172,000 head in the number of cattle aged from 12 to 30 months at 1 June 2011 compared to the same date in 2010. Clearly, a reduction in cattle numbers of that magnitude in this age cohort will adversely impact on supplies for the remainder of 2011 and throughout 2012. Changes in cattle numbers can occur for many reasons but the current decline in young male cattle, which collectively account for some 165,000 of the decrease, is largely attributable to the effects of the strong live export trade in previous years together with an increase in young bull production.

A tight supply situation, both nationally and internationally, is contributing to strong price returns for domestic producers. Total cattle throughput at Irish meat export premises to the end of August was almost 53,000 head (or 5%) down on the corresponding period in 2010. To date this year, average prices paid by Irish meat plants for all categories of stock are between 14% and 17% higher than those prevailing during the same period in 2010. This is welcome news for livestock farmers who must also contend with higher input costs for feed, fertiliser and energy which typically constitute of 70% of total costs in beef production after stock purchases are taken into account.

The outlook for the remainder of the year is that prime cattle availability will remain considerably tighter than last year while export demand is likely to increase because of falling EU production and supplies. According to Bord Bia estimates, supplies at domestic export plants will reach around 1.54 million head for the year, which would equate to a fall of 100,000 on 2010 levels. Given these favourable market conditions, the immediate prospects are for a strong autumn trade which should help further boost producer profitability in this important indigenous export sector.