April 21, 2008

Irish beef industry not viable

The Irish beef industry is not viable in this highly competitive industry and needs to be scaled back considerably, according to an Irish academic on agriculture.

Alan Matthews, professor of agricultural policy at Trinity College Dublin said much of the Irish beef industry could never be competitive on world markets and that land should be redirected instead to dairy production or the production of biomass.

Protests broke out in Ireland last week after EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson signalled that he is willing to open up EU markets to imports more than had been previously planned in the world trade talks.

The Irish beef industry is struggling with the competition posed by massive low cost meat producers such as Argentina and Brazil. In view of the situation, Ireland needs to take a realistic approach to the long-term viability of the beef sector, he said.

Much production here is maintained only because of EU subsidies, which are inevitably going to be wound down in the years ahead, according to Matthews.

Ireland should move farmland use into more profitable and viable areas, rather than encouraging a new generation of farmers to move into beef, Matthews said.

Matthews was co-author of a study on the world trade talks for Forfas, the industrial advisory body.

Trade delegates are pushing to conclude the Doha round of trade talks, which has been running for the past five years, this year. Key meetings are to be held at the World Trade Organisation headquarters in Geneva next month, to see if the outline of an agreement is possible.