Factories are weakening the sheep sector by trying to reduce prices

IFA Sheep chairman Adrian Gallagher has slammed the factories for trying to undermine the sheep trade.

He said spring lambing numbers were still low and procurement was still ongoing for the important Eid ul-Adha festival held in mid-June.

“The level of cuts being undertaken by factories risks weakening trade in our key export markets and sets the sector on a very dangerous path for the remainder of the year,” he said.

The IFA sheep chairman said factories here are trying to cut prices well ahead of the price movement in our key markets over the last few weeks. This is unacceptable and needs to be put to rest.

Adrian Gallagher has called on factories to price lamb and pork responsibly and to stand firm in the market to maintain prices for sheep farmers.

He said supplies of sheepmeat produced in the EU and UK would be tighter this year. Factories must maintain consistent levels and maximize market returns for sheep farmers.

He also attacked supermarkets in some of our markets for using cheap, chilled and frozen imported sheep meat to drive down prices for local suppliers.

“Sheep farming is a sensitive, low-income sector and is run on farms to the highest environmental standards. “Supermarkets cannot, on the one hand, try to promote their organic products and, on the other hand, use cheap imports to undermine the profitability of local producers,” he said.

Adrian Gallagher said factories must work resolutely with supermarkets and not engage in a price race to the bottom.