LIMERICK farmers are set to continuing their protest outside Rathekeale’s meat factory where up to 170 farmers turned up recently to highlight their issue with beef pricing in supplying the UK meat market.
The farmers say that they are being paid up to €1 per kilo less than their UK counterparts and although they are almost the same as the European standard, “it is the UK price we are going by as up to 75 per cent of our meat goes into the UK market”, noted one farmer.
“We can’t stick it, that is over €350 a head of a difference”.
The group say that they were in the same scenario 15 years ago with regard to beef prices and “trust between the meat industry and agriculture is on thin ice for a long number of years”.
The protests have been condemned by Meat Industry Ireland who describe them as “misguided and counterproductive”.
It’s one of 29 IFA led 24-hour protests taking place around the country.
