The leaders of UK and Irelands farming unions have decided on an action plan. The main key points which have been agreed are:
A code of conduct should be drawn up to manage how processors communicate changes in the specification to farmers.
Each of the union presidents will take the outcomes of the meeting to their respective governments farming minister.
The agricultural parts of EU trade agreements with USA and Latin America need to be carefully regulated.
The short-term soar in beef supply should dry up by the end of the year, hopefully driving prices in farmers’ favour. Last week the slide of the GB all -steers deadweight price slowed slightly, this dropping 1.6p/kg to 335.6p/kg, however this was still lower than 64.6/kg than the year earlier, heavy falls have still been recorded in Scotland and the north of England. In Ireland steers averaged €3.85/kg (311p/kg, about €0.60 (48p) less than twelve months before.