To my utmost heartache and no little shame, I haven’t read the Irish Farmers Journal in a ridiculous length of time. In all honesty, the main reasoning for such being the case is out of a feeling and/or realisation that to do so would leave one more upset than is already the case.
Yet, as is often the case when dealing with emotional complexities, at the same time, there is also a desperation to keep a proverbial foot in the doorway to the agricultural arena. So as not to let the last vestages of the lifelong dream fade away until the life support machine has ran out of diesel.
Indeed, it has been for a long time and remains a steadfast ambition to write in one (or more) of the farming/agri business publications on a professlonal basis. And, it may in fact be closer now than at any time in the past. Thanks to a contact that, in one sense should have been no surprise at all as they have always been my greatest backers.
That said, the connection of the said entity to the agriculture sector would probably knock a certain cohort sideways. Be that as it may, I’m reminded of an all too succinct line once imparted by a dear departed friend when it comes to longings to be able to do certain things in life – The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
To say that the first part of that dictum is applicable in this seat is the understatement of this or any century, but here’s the thing, there are another conclave of -people who would use the second half of that as fodder to aid the argument that yours truly can’t get back into farming in a more meaningful way. But I can assure you that won’t be taken lying down either.
For, it was upon seeing a farming story pop up in an unusual location which lit a spark which scarcely needs much cordite to flare up. The ignition? A word I haven’t heard in the nearly six years since I had cattle of my own – MERCOSUR.
The block name given to a group of South American countries with whom the EU appear hell bent on striking a trade deal with even though any such dictat would have a catastrophic effect on farmers in the countries the Union was supposed to be promoting and protecting. Most notably Ireland.
However, as IFJ Beef Editor Adam Woods and an IFA delegation discovered and detailed on a recent trip to Brazil, oversight and control in beef production in the South American country are virtually non existent.
Now, besides the very obvious conclusion that to be associated with MERCOSUR would be a tremendous betrayal of Irish farmers, given the slipshod standards at play referred to above, it must also be considered a serious risk to consumers, though the biggest question of all must be why in God’s name is there a need to be importing beef product at all? Let alone from the other side of the world where – by way of comparison – you’re talking about a difference in food production and safety standards between a chipper van at a music festival and a sit down meal in a hotel.
At my own expense I will admit that for the worst part of half a decade touch had completely been lost with cattle prices and the mart trade and the like. A case of out of sight, out of mind. Except in this case it was by choice because to be as emersed in all things farming at that juncture would have been equivalent to being a kid in a sweet shop but hamstrung by a ‘Look but don’t touch’ policy.
For whatever reason, from the time mam fell really ill and it was obvious there was only going to be one outcome, it can only have been gut instinct which sent me back in the direction of all things farming. Firstly just scanning mart reports and the like and then setting the beloved pasture out to B & B for a few guests.
Though yes, before you ask, I know in my own heart that it’s very much a double edged sword, that having cattle beyond that aren’t my own only exponentially increases the longing for same to be the case, but, well, sometimes you can only go where the gut leads you. For me, that has always meant and will always mean farming, in some form or other.
Thus, I’ve got back into the habit of ‘going to’ (virtually) two or three marts a week. Experience has taught me that, for reasons unknown, Ballymahon in Co Longford is the base by which all others should be judged. Simplistic, maybe, but one need only see the quality of livestock – particularly continental cattle – at the midlands venue to see why lots there make such extraordinary prices.
The thing is, though. the prices are the same whether one looks at Carnaross or Ballymahon, Kilmallock or Tullow, the astronomical prices beef finishers are having to outlay to buy in stock for winter feeding surely begs the question as to what sort of price they will need either in marts or from the factories to have any hope of turning a profit.
And all that without taking the prospect of cut price, poorer quality Brazilian beef potentially flooding the Irish market.
Yerra, even what would once have been considered plain cattle – basically anything CHX or LMX on its card – have been commanding staggering prices. For example, this evening (25/11/25) in Carnaross, a Charolais heifer weighing 320kg made €2050, four Hereford (HEX) heifers weighing 400kg made a ballpark figure of €1300 each and, most astonishingly, a 10-year-old Aberdeen Angus cull cow who tipped the scales at 700kg ended up changing hands for €2370.
Where in the name of all that is Holy is the room for profit in that? Granted, especially at this time of year, at the very least, a high percentage of those buying tend to be doing so for feedlots or factories. Yes, the ordinary man or woman has no chance of competing in that market environment.
Throw MERCOSUR beef into that stewpot and where do the ‘ordinary’ producer go? The EU have some serious explaining to do. Mostly because, now, the assurances with which they fobbed the concerns of Irish representatives off have been proven not to be worth the paper they’re written on.
The IFJ/IFA delegation visited farms, marts and meat factories in their explorations, and the most glaringly worrying thing discovered was the ease with which bovine medications can be attained without a morsel of research or oversight.
Follow the journey – as the buzz phrase of modern times goes ‘from farm to fork’ – and the dangers of Brazilian beef entering the Irish market scarcely need much elaboration.
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