Does Northern Ireland need a beef price index?

The index is made up of three elements: cattle price benchmark, beef by product index and beef index that will allow comparisons to be drawn with corresponding prices in other international markets. The tracker is available on the Bord Bia website (https://www.bordbia.ie/farmers-growers/farmers/prices-markets/) and is worth viewing.

One of the interesting trackers is the by-product market indicator. This looks at the value of the hides and fifth quarter, an area which is not very transparent. Farmers drop their cattle off at the factory and many believe this is their final opportunity to gain an insight into the value of their beef.

There are no published prices for Irish, UK or EU hides or offal products but there are reports available from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These products are usually traded globally so the US data provides a reasonable reflection of market trends. By-products are usually classed into three categories: hides, red offals (tongue, liver, tail etc) and white offals (tripes, fats etc). The Bord Bia by-product indicator summarises the latest market trends in the hide and offal markets on a €/per kg of carcass weight. Hide €0.07, red offals €0.11, white offals €0.11, and overall average €0.29.

The other interesting tracker is the wholesale and retail beef price indicator. This looks at the level of retail or wholesale customer. Each month Bord Bia monitors specific retail and wholesale prices across seven principle markets (Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden). Market prices are recorded for steak, round and forequarter beef cuts. The market prices are weighted according to their relative importance and the base value is set at 100 and will work on a points index.

Surely there should be nothing to fear from asking for a beef market index for the Northern Ireland beef sector. Extra information and additional market transparency can only be a good thing for beef farmers. From October 2018 to November 2019 the NI beef sector lost £36.8 million and additional transparency would have been useful to monitor and explain the reasons for this.

At the recent Northern Ireland Institute of Agriculture Science (NIIAS) beef and sheep outlook 2020 conference in Portadown, Phelim O’Neill from the Irish Farmers’ Journal explained that the USA has a twice daily reporting system. Values and current volume are both derived from individual beef item sales. From this it was clear that the USA had a more comprehensive model in relation to transparency which was certainly worth taking note of.

At this week’s UFU beef and lamb policy committee, the committee has asked the Union to investigate whether a NI beef market index could be established.