UFU meet with industry and retailers at NSA event
and live on Freeview channel 276
The meeting was held at the National Sheep Association event in Malvern.
UFU beef and lamb chair, Pat McKay, commented: “Travelling to NSA’s event earlier in the week was too good of an opportunity to miss, as it gave us the chance to speak face-to-face with key individuals who need to be aware of the challenges facing our sheep farmers in Northern Ireland.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“Farm inputs during spring and throughout the summer to date have soared, putting huge financial pressure on farm businesses.
“While lamb prices have been fairly strong this season, which was good to see, in recent weeks we have witnessed market returns falling sharply in a very short space of time.
“It stresses how vulnerable our sector is and the need for confidence to be instilled in our producers as store lamb and breeding sales get underway.”
He continued: “Tesco and Asda, as well as processors, took the time to speak to us at Malvern and we reiterated the need for strong farmgate prices for the sheep sector.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“We also met with British Wool representatives, and we hope that producers will see the benefits for this season’s wool as the global wool market shows signs of improving.
“Therefore, we encourage farmers to move wool off farm as soon as possible to one of their local wool collection centres,” Mr McKay concluded.