Bord Bia Problem

Siamsa Sessions · 12-06-2026 09:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124546721#Comment_124546721

For me, the bigger issue has always been the farm orgs rather than Bord Bia.

I’d trust Larry Murrin to get a job done more than Francie and the wannabe civil servants in Bluebell.

kk.man · 12-06-2026 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124546721#Comment_124546721

A full withdrawal from BB sure the few cent we loose will be eroded by the factories come the autumn.

No European country is experiencing a downturn like ours.

Siamsa Sessions · 12-06-2026 10:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124547071#Comment_124547071

Bord Bia’s line is that markets want more traceability, sustainable practices, lower carbon footprint, etc. The farm orgs nod their head, saying, “Of course, naturally, that’s what the consumer wants…”

But there’s little evidence to support this. Consumers might say they want it in various surveys but they do the opposite when it comes to coughing up and paying over hard cash.

Would farmgate prices collapse if we answered 100 questions in the Bord Bia audit instead of 200 questions? That’s the pragmatic type of question I’d like to see the farm orgs ask rather than taking on big principled issues around the integrity of businessmen/politicians. Larry might be hypocritical and smug but Francie should be thinking in terms of little victories and inch-by-inch rather than grand symbolic gestures.

kk.man · 13-06-2026 12:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124547195#Comment_124547195

There's no sustainability with irish cattle, much are moved long distances to distort the local trade. The food miles are unreal. The sonar panels et al are just a financial excuse to reduce costs. Theres no real desire to comply with greening of the industry. Its all a white wash. If every irish factory could honestly chase the food miles to their plants, they would be very competent.

Larry could rock up to his buddies tomorrow for afternoon tea and we'd be spat on by the gate sentries. Not that i want afternoon tea, I've fenching to do.

kk.man · 13-06-2026 12:35AM

Food miles to factory, days in herd, cfu, days to slaughter from booking in should all be recorded by bord bia. All beef sales to restaurants and all outlets (after all Europe has us jumping through ropes like no other Contenint) should record the country of origin and displyed in outlets, country of processed, no flags, no shamrocks, no clover simble AND ABSOLUTELY NO BORD BIA OF ANY LABLE MARKED WHEN THAT PRODUCE DID NOT COME FROM ROI PRODUCERS. Its nauseous to think that we are still talking lables from the beef tribunal.

Its time to expose them because they absolutely single handed distorted the British market at our expense. They went after low hanging fruit in the UK and pissed off those who made them.

We are in the eu since 1973 and every eu referendum stated eu markets, irish jobs, country gain. But the barons kissed the UK market, manipulatived it, threw southern hemisphere beef at it got caught out when their trousers were down and inflicted damage on their very people who made them. They can't sell anything into Europe despite a few cull cows to France and the odd u or e grade animal to the Netherlands or Italy. Talk about marketing and bulshit bus words.

Independents bought cattle last year at record prices, the big three were way behind. The Independents don't have the financial resources to complete with the big three but the market returned them a profit. The big three were and now are spoofing the farmer. The UK market needed a correction and it did in the form of cheap southern hemisphere beef. You need cheap beef to correct dear beef.

Every single meat plant in this country uniformity reduced the price of beef since January week after week in unison despite being Independent, despite having different outlets, different customers,it was coordinated, it stopped during ifa protests, it also halted during fuel protests, its that doesn't ring alarm bells nothing will. The beef protest after weeks returned a price of 3.60( despite the procurement mangers stating 3e is on the way) the cartel had huge backlogs and could have imposed cuts down to 3e they didn't they bought beef at 3.60 for 4 to 5 months non stop.

Birdnuts · 13-06-2026 01:08AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124547195#Comment_124547195

In fairness Bord Bia sets a pretty low bar on many of those fronts eg. BB Labels for giant broiler houses, intensive pig units etc.

kk.man · 13-06-2026 01:16AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124547393#Comment_124547393

Red tractor works why doesn't bord bia work?...absolute joke and no pgi status on red tractor...

Sheep breeder · 13-06-2026 08:55PM

The major problem was the minister couldn’t sack him and open themselves up to an unfair dismissal case, very hard to prove that he personally done anything wrong, it was the companies he was associated with. Francie thought he was going to grandstand and be the big fella outside bord bia offices instead of taking it to the factories. The fuel protests showed what could be done when people’s backs are up, instead Francie needs to money to roll in from the factories to keep his boss’s in the big office happy.

grass10 · 13-06-2026 10:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124548921#Comment_124548921

Farmers have to remember that all the farm orgs are here to represent Farmers and stand up for Farmers when their are issues affecting farmer's businesses and lives this has been a perfect example where you have the chairman of our food marketing bord whose job is to promote and find markets for Ireland food products mainly in other countries as we have to export large volumes of agri products of which beef is one of the major products that has to be exported and farmer's are spending considerable money producing beef etc to the highest standards anywhere in the world and we have obtained pgi status to put our beef above many other countries products to try and obtain as high a standard as possible and hopefully a decent price for our beef of which b bia were supposedly central to all this marketing of our products

Over 4 months ago farmer's found out that the chairman of b bia was admitting to importing Brazilian beef which had the potential to destroy our reputation internationally he refused to resign the useless government who are employing him refused to remove him and the ifa stood up for the farmer's and demanded he go and when that didn't happen they rightly protested and stood up for the farmer's, what has happened in the last 4 months our beef price has collapsed every finished animal has dropped between 400 and 500 euro in sale value yet the retail price of beef in Ireland and every export market we sell into has increased in those 4 months and what has bord bia said they are telling us it's Brazilian and aus/nz beef coming in is why our farm gate price has dropped well what the fu× k are bord bia doing to market our products they are doing nothing , when the chairman is importing the very product that they tell us is the cause of our price collapse and you and others seem to think the ifa were wrong in protesting you haven't the slightest understanding of what has happened

Every 100 fat cattle on any irish farm have dropped in value by over 40000 euro in 4 months and many people like yourself don't seem to understand the permanent reputation damage done to irish beef in our export markets by the actions of the government and b bia, fg rolled out some senator yesterday who stated that we have recently lost some export markets and he was trying to blame the protests when the reality is our reputation is destroyed by a small number of individuals trying to make a quick profit

Sheep breeder · 13-06-2026 10:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124549101#Comment_124549101

Agree what your saying about Irish beef reputation damaged and farmers suffering over the bord bia in the export markets and I am well aware of this, but Francie and the IFA could have walked from the bord bia table and instead the top brass decided a PR exercise at the head quarters was enough. The same as writing a strongly word letter. The reputation of Irish beef has been seriously tarnished.

grass10 · 13-06-2026 10:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124549131#Comment_124549131

Ifa and icmsa should leave bord bia as bord bia is meaningless now and get more like the French farmers and their representatives and take more direct action like maybe visiting a few supermarkets and asking a few questions about all the 40 euro per kg beef that the farmer is after getting 6 euro for when the housewives cannot do their shopping the government might start listening like the fuel protests proved

wrangler · 13-06-2026 10:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124549158#Comment_124549158

Supermarkets don't take kindly to protests, I remember tesco threatening to take Irish product off the shelves in London if we didn't have manners, from memory I think they did it too

grass10 · 13-06-2026 11:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124549190#Comment_124549190

Bord Bia and meat factories tell us every week their is no market for our beef and it's all going into cold stores so we have nothing to lose were already paid the lowest price in Europe our reputation is in tatters so we have nothing to lose, when we sell our cattle their is 2 groups in the chain between us and the housewives buying her beef and they are making a fortune all you can do is kick them where it hurts

wrangler · 14-06-2026 10:36AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124549312#Comment_124549312

I aattended every IFA factory protest there was, even though i knew there was no point. The factories would never give because if they did once there'd be farmers always protesting at the gates and they never lost money from a protest either because the cattle would always be there when the protest was over

But it made me feel better

kk.man · 14-06-2026 10:46AM

If there's protests again it must focus on anti competitor practise in the beef industry. Its plain and in your face and they are brazenly doing it in broad daylight.