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EAST CORK AGRICULTURE
info@eastcorkjournal.ie
Cattle Prices Continue To Harden – IFA
Chairman of the IFA
Livestock Committee, Angus Woods, said cat- tle prices are continuing to drive
forward with
the base price for steers and heifers at €4.10 and €4.20/kg. He said, based on
the week-on-week in- crease in the UK price over the last five weeks, which is now equivalent to €4.50/kg,
the facto-
ries have further room to drive on the Irish price. He said farmers who have fed cattle indoors to this stage in the year need a significant price premium.
Angus Woods said
the official Department of Agriculture reported prices for week ending May 7th
gus Woods said the trade remains buoyant
On live exports, An- with
show that the av-
erage R3 steer price was €4.19/kg and the aver- age R3 heifer price was €4.31/kg. Young bulls are making €4.19 for Us, €4.11 for Rs, and €3.91/ kg for O grades. He said Cows are also a good trade with €3.68/kg for Rs, €3.47 for Os and €3.41/kg for P+ grades. Mr. Woods said the
latest weekly kill was 29,207 head, which re- flects the tight supply situation. He said to date this year the kill is up 11,868 on last year.
total live exports reach- ing over 105,000 head. This is an increase of over 31,000 head on last year and reflects a 42% increase.
Angus Woods said this
is due mainly to a strong calf export trade to the EU as a result of IFA work in reducing charges on exports. In addition, he said the live export trade is strongly boost- ed by exports to Turkey where he said two ships have already sailed and another is due to load again next week.
Thursday, 18th
May 2017
Deadline Monday at noon
IFA Meets Canadian Cattlemen’s Association On Beef Issues
IFA President Joe
Healy and National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods met with a delegation from the Ca- nadian Cattlemen’s As- sociation and Canadian Meat Council in Dublin to discuss a range of is- sues on beef including trade, standards, sus- tainability and the Inter- national Beef Alliance. Joe Healy said it is Canadian fac-
clear that beef farmers are ing the same challeng-
IFA Calls For Extension Of Employment Permits To Address Labour Supply Shortage On Farms
IFA has called for em-
ployment permits to be made available to farm workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to meet la- bour and skills shortages on Irish farms. In a submission to a
Department of Jobs, En- terprise and Innovation review, IFA identified that a shortage of skilled and general labour sup- ply has emerged in the agriculture sector in the last number of years. IFA has proposed em- ployment permits be ex- tended to farm workers from non-EEA countries in order to meet the de- mand.
IFA President Joe
Healy warned the short- age of labour supply at farm level, both skilled and manual, will restrict the ability of the agricul- ture sector to achieve its growth targets over the next decade. He point- ed out that, “Farmers compete on internation- al markets, and consid- ering the potential im- plications of Brexit
for
Irish agriculture, any re- striction on competitive- ness that can be alleviat- ed should be alleviated.” Gerry Reilly, IFA Hor-
ticulture Chairman said the horticulture
sector
- mushroom and straw- berry growers in par-
ticular - is struggling to find suitable labour from within the EEA coun- tries due to improved employment levels, job opportunities and im- proved economies in Ireland and other EEA countries. IFA Dairy Chairman,
Sean O’Leary pointed out a particular issue arises in meeting skilled labour demand on dairy farms following the re- moval of quotas, “A number of farmers who have contacted the IFA about
this issue have
identified skilled individ- uals in countries outside the EEA, which have an already established
intensive dairy industry, but due to our current work permit system they are unable
to employ
these people.” In addition, he said
the shortage of skilled workers in the dairy sec- tor has resulted in an in- crease in working hours for many farmers, which is of concern from a health and safety and quality of
life perspec-
tive. IFA President Joe
Healy has also written to Minister for Jobs, En- terprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Con- nor and Minister for Ag- riculture, Michael Creed on this issue.
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prior to desired publication date eastcorkjournal @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal Have you got a story for the ? es as Irish farmers on
key issues such as price, competition, produc- tion costs, labelling and exports. He said, IFA had had a broad rang- ing discussion on Brexit where the difficulties for the beef sector and our hard won and long established relationship with UK retailers and customers were
high-
lighted. He said Quality Assurance, sustainability and superior standards as well as a successful
outcome on Brexit will be key factors in main- taining Irish exports to the UK in the future. IFA National Live-
stock Chairman Angus Woods said that under the trade deal between Canada and the EU (CETA), Canadian beef farmers
will have to
meet EU standards on key issues of traceabil- ity, food safety and the environment to be able to access the EU market. He said it is very clear at
EU level that all imports must meet EU stand- ards.
Angus Woods said the
CCA told the IFA that cattle numbers in Can- ada have stabilised and that the majority of their beef is grain finished in feedlots. The USA is the main export market facilitated by the NAF- TA agreement, which has come back on the agenda with the new ad- ministration in the US, under President Trump.
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