March 11, 2008

Irish beef ration sales fall 30 percent as high prices discourage demand

Ireland's sales of beef rations have fallen 25 to 30 percent this winter as price hikes and tighter margins for cattle finishers slashed demand at farm level.

Coarse rations have been hardest hit, with sales down 35 percent in some parts of the country.

Demand for beef nuts was relatively stronger, but was still back by around 20 percent.

Feed merchants attribute the fall-off in sales to the hike in ration costs driven by massive grain price increases last autumn.

This put an additional EUR70 per tonne (US$108) to EUR80 (US$123) per tonne on to the cost of beef feeds.

Poor returns from winter finishing over the past few years also resulted to the decrease of the number of cattle housed, which in turn lowered the otherwise robust demand for feed.

The recent lift in cattle prices has been reflected in higher feed sales over the past month as merchants report a significant improvement in ration deliveries since factory quotes began to harden.

Meanwhile, sales of dairy rations remained firm, despite the increased feed costs, as farmers made the most of high milk prices through the back end of the year.