CATTLE ARE being exported in such numbers from Ireland it could threaten the future of some meat plants, it was claimed yesterday.
Total live cattle exports have grown by over 100 per cent and since the beginning of the year, 185,761 animals have been sold abroad. This could rise to a quarter of a million animals by the end of the year.
Cormac Healy of Meat Industry Ireland, representing the processing industry, said there was concern over the level of exports, which could impact negatively on the Irish food industry.
“The average throughput in Irish meat plants is between 55,000 and 60,000 animals annually and with 150,000 animals already gone and an expectation of reaching 250,000, that is two meat plants and 600 jobs at risk,” he said.
He said the plants had invested in technology and jobs and believed the best future for the Irish food industry was Irish plants processing Irish animals for the international markets.
He said there was also great volatility in the live export market which took less than 100,000 cattle in 2008. Demand was driven by price and other factors such as animal disease. “We need to keep critical mass here if we wish to have an Irish food industry processing Irish produced animals,” he said.
The greatest demand from the export market had been for calves which should form the basis of Ireland’s beef and dairy stock over the next few years. In this category, 111,058 animals have gone abroad.
More than half of the young animals exported have gone to the Netherlands, which has taken over 62,000 calves and older cattle under 12 months. There has also been a major growth in the export of cattle to Northern Ireland where 42,309 animals were sent, an increase of just over 30,000 on the previous year.
Exports to Spain are running 94 per cent ahead of last year and the Italian market has taken 27,592 animals since the beginning of the year.
Virtually all the cattle exported from Ireland have gone to other EU countries where new transport regulations are due to come into force in the next two years which will create major difficulties for the live trade.
In all, 139,000 of the cattle exported went to continental countries, an increase of nearly 60,000 animals over last year.
The farming organisations are very supportive of the live cattle export trade, saying it delivers competition in the market for cattle and without it this year, the prices they have been receiving from meat plants would be lower.