Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan yesterday predicted a shortage of Irish meat in the shops early next year because of the soaring cost of animal feed.
Ms Coughlan said more and more farmers were waiting until the spring to fatten their cattle on natural grass and avoid the cost of feeding them on expensive cereals during winter months.
That means fewer animals will be ready for slaughter for food in spring. She said: "We could actually find ourselves at the beginning of the year looking at a scarcity of meat.
"We could actually find ourselves in the situation where the number of beef cattle available to trade will be reduced."
The Minister conceded there are other factors discouraging farmers from preparing animals for market, including competition from Brazil.
Irish farmers have claimed the EU has been downplaying the problems with foot-and-mouth disease in Brazil. They insist Brazilian farmers are allowed produce beef at lower standards than farmers in the EU have to observe.
Earlier this week Ms Coughlan called for a discussion by the EU's veterinary committee on a report on the Brazilian food industry.
The report concluded that animal public health control systems were generally satisfactory in Brazil, but it also was critical of aspects of the measures in the South American country to detect or prevent foot-and-mouth.
Ms Coughlan yesterday repeated that she will be "vociferous" within the parameters available to her within the EU to protect the interests of Irish farmers, although she was aware they were looking to her for more positive action.
She said: "I appreciate that the farmers will only be satisfied if I call for a ban. I am not legally in a position to do so, but I can still use my influence to persuade and to pursue this matter at Commission level."
She added that it was also a reality that there are many other EU member states which do not share her view. They wished to see cheaper imports of meat into the EU.
The Minister was speaking in Donegal after the first North/ South Ministerial Council agriculture meeting since the restoration of the Executive.