Beef Plan Movement (READ OP BEFORE POSTING)

Bass Reeves

richie123 wrote: »

This new factory in banagher will make absolutely no difference...most factories in country are no where near there slaughter capacity...if the demand was there you can be sure the present factories would cater to that demand.

It's not about slaughtering capacity it about competition. The Irish processor's have no real interest in trying to break into the Chinese market. It was much the same when the US opened. They seem happy enough to just carry on with taking a bloated margin off the UK market.

Who ever takes them on needs deep pockets. When you look at the way the big three are swallowing up in Independent processor's and either using the capacity or reducing it operation size you see the need for any competition you can get. If Banagher gets going it could do just that.

Bass Reeves

Jjameson wrote: »

Certainly not a torn in his side in this country if he asked them to jump they'd ask how high.

The UK is different much more of them.

Out of spec cattle, flat pricing, no penalties for fat. A friend of mine sent a stock bull to roscrea last week a3€ a kg. A bad price but Larries local plant bid 2€!
Yes 2€ a kg and no joke for a healthy big 4 year old bull.[/quote]

There seems to be some demand for aged bulls, in places they are making more than O grade cows

kk.man

Bass Reeves wrote: »

It's not about slaughtering capacity it about competition. The Irish processor's have no real interest in trying to break into the Chinese market. It was much the same when the US opened. They seem happy enough to just carry on with taking a bloated margin off the UK market.

Who ever takes them on needs deep pockets. When you look at the way the big three are swallowing up in Independent processor's and either using the capacity or reducing it operation size you see the need for any competition you can get. If Banagher gets going it could do just that.

You would need 3 or 4 new Banaghers to have an effect and all feeding into its own waste protein facility.
However the margin in beef processing is very small but volume takes the bad look off the figures. The supermarkets squeezed the daylights out of it in last ten years and the factories bowed to the pressure but then the fifth quarter fell apart.

Mooooo

Unfortunately a simple post over in the beed price thread explains more of the situation than most. There are a large number of beef farmers who continue to farm regardless of whether or no the cattle they sell turn a profit. Similar to golfing or anything else it's as much a pastime to some as anything else. People are perfectly entitled to what they want but as long as there will be stock supplied for below the cost of production the factories will continue to take them, and beef price will reflect that.
Tbh the online marts have been eye openers to me, with prices paid for beef stock that 90% of dairy lads wouldn't even dream of paying for dairy cows and heifers which apparently give more of a return. Now fair enough the ones that may pop up on the Facebook feed may well be the higher end but still.
I have no solutions as at the end of the day the beef processing is privately owned in this country and tbh farmer owned versions would be 40 years too late in terms of being able to be established under whatever cooperative guise it could have been
Beef farmers will have to start looking at costs of production within the farm gate properly and assess from there. Of the job or something else on the side is propping it up then something will have to give.

richie123

Jjameson wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/nine-goodman-companies-made-largely-untaxed-profit-of-170m-1.3943367?mode=amp

A decent amount of prime retail leased helps
Plus it's a very low margin high turnover buisness.
That's how he does it if your big enough you'll survive and thrive
Plus he has the added bonus that he has a good base of suppliers who are willing to supply him with beef at a loss to themselves.

Farmers are their own worst enemy.
A post over in the mart prices thread a few days ago nailed it on the head and summed up the reality of farming for a lot of farmers in this country.
Only ourselves to blame.

richie123

Jjameson wrote: »

How can we be sure that 8 families haven’t just divided up a billion euro industry between them and are locking newcomers and completion out?
Isn’t it simply amaazing that everyone of the existing one has the exact same operating margin with no appetite for more output to pay a little more for a few more cattle than someone else?
If I priced a granite worktop for the kitchen there would be quotes from 3 local companies (2 buying stone from the same supplier) with as much as €600 between them for the same job and spec..
There is a huge need for players out of the cartel click to shake things up.

They don't have to divide it up because they have lads lining up to give them cattle.
It's really that simple..the less you have of anything the more valuable it is.too many cattle out there fullstop.