IN THE first development of its kind in this country, more than 500 farmers have been told of a plan which could increase the value of Irish beef exports by €120 million.
Ireland exports most of the 320,000 male animals from dairy herds to be finished as veal and young bull beef in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Belgium.
But now Teagasc and Dawn Meats have put forward a plan they said would challenge the status quo in 2011 by buying week-old Holstein dairy bull calves and rearing them as veal or finishing them as young bull beef.
Niall Browne, chief executive of Dawn Meats, said the animals would be bought from selected herds and reared and finished for slaughter as 15-16-month-old young bull beef on a contract rearing/finishing price.
The selected rearers and finishers would be required to sign up to a pre-agreed fee which would be enhanced with bonus payments for reaching certain clearly defined targets during the life of the crop.
He also said the new contracts would “have a twist” as Dawn Meats would make the seed capital available in these tough times and this may prove key to adding value to Ireland’s exports.
Teagasc head of livestock systems research Pádraig French said the national dairy herd was expected to increase by 3 per cent per annum from next year. “The objective is to develop a range of calf-to-beef systems which are profitable for producers and providing a marketable product for meat processors,” he said.