ICMSA criticise 'failure' to supervise grading and stat collection in beef factories

The Chairperson of ICMSA’s Livestock Committee, Michael O’Connell, has said that the publication of the 2025 Beef Carcase Classification & Price Report has raised questions that will need to be “both asked and answered” in relation to the grading and pricing systems operated by beef factories. 

Mr O’Connell said that Minister Heydon must acknowledge that the questions have now reached a degree of seriousness that requires a response.

“Over the past few weeks and months, the subjects of traceability and transparency have been the first subject farmers talk about wherever they meet and the core principle that farmers feel has been violated is the one that says that you must have the same rule for everybody. 

"And that’s why the revelation that several DAFM-approved beef factories are exempt from mechanical classification and price reporting is so alarming. 

"There must be full transparency from all meat processing plants on how they report pricing and carcase classification,” said Mr O’Connell.

The ICMSA Livestock Chairperson was referring to the fact that regarding price reporting, six beef factories out of a total of 35 DAFM-approved factories are not reporting prices to the Department on a weekly basis. 

Mr O’Connell said that farmers will want to know why they have been given this exemption and whether that is affecting calculation of the base price. 

“These factories are deemed to be slaughtering less than 20,000 cattle per annum accounting for a small percentage of the national kill, approximately 5.1%. 

"But based on 2025 total throughput, we are still talking about 81,000 cattle. So this is not ‘just a few head’ and we have members who are part of processor sustainability programmes whose base price is based on reported prices paid or average quote prices published on farming media - if those 81,000 cattle prices per annum are not even accounted for, how does that affect farmer base price?

"These factories are, in general, independent processors who – again, generally - pay slightly more on a weekly basis than the ‘big players’ to source cattle because they don’t have factory owned feedlots or contracted feedlots. 

"If these higher-paying factories are included, you should be seeing a positive shift in terms of base prices based on farming publications. Again, it is the Department who provides this information to the media and ICMSA thinks it must be a fully transparent system that’s based on the prices paid by all beef processing plants,” said Mr O’Connell.

Nor was this the only issue that Beef Carcase Classification & Price Report had thrown up: “the number of inspections carried out, and the number of carcasses checked in beef factories in 2025 has dropped since 2024. During 2024, a total of 702 factories had carcass classification and grading checks versus 670 factory inspections in 2025. That’s not acceptable; it’s a reduction of just under 7,000 carcasses from what was already a very low number. 

"How are farmers to have faith in carcass grading when the body which governs the proper calibration of machines and governing of manual grading is actually going backwards in terms of inspecting carcases?” 

 Mr O’Connell noted that the relationship between farmers and beef processors had been “fractured” for many years and that could only be repaired by showing that the required level of fairness and transparency was being regulated and enforced.

“This report shows no basis for farmer confidence in a system – and remember, this is a government report. A total of 55,569 carcasses inspected out of a total throughput of 1,592,861 is only 3.4% of the total. What about the other 96-odd %?" 

"We have seen in the past number of months a number of factories fined for over excessive trimming of carcasses. These factories are fined €250 per carcass. But every kg of carcass trimmed before the weighing scales is costing the farmer upwards of €7. It’s very easy – too easy - for the factory to pay the fine and move on. 

"There obviously needs to be more stringent inspection routines. There needs to be full-time Department of Agriculture staff in each processing plant regardless how big or small. 

"If it’s only 1kg of beef removed before the scales at an average cost of €7/kg, that’s over €10 million in revenue saved by factories. This laughably inadequate supervision of these factories is almost certainly costing farmers millions – not just in ‘tricky’ factory practices, but in artificially low base price calculation. 

"We want this fixed and we want the DAFM to start taking its duties in this area seriously,” concluded Mr O’Connell.