Tag Archives: Clare Beef Plan chairman

CLARE beef farmers look set to be hit by further decreases in the meat prices following claims by Meat Industry Ireland of increased export costs caused by Brexit. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe recalled prices began to increase after Christmas with heifers in one meat plant hitting €4 per kg. At this stage farmers were beginning to hope that Teagasc’s break even figure of €4.40 per kg might be achievable. However, without warning Mr Woulfe pointed out the price collapsed by 20 cent, which has prompted fears of a return to the 2019 factory protest price of €3.65. The Quilty suckler farmer said there is an urgent need for a breakdown of what money is paid to the farmer, processor and retailer for meat. He expressed concern that retailers can reduce the price of meat to attract customers into their retail premises before stressing this shouldn’t be done at the expense of producers. He said Meat Industry Ireland need …

CONSUMERS should be given an option of purchasing labelled grass-fed beef, according to a local farm leader. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe said there is a lack of traceability for some of the beef that is coming into Europe. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Mr Woulfe pointed out grass-fed beef was much better for the environment than feedlot. The Quilty suckler farmer expressed concern that 900,000 tonnes of poultry and 300,000 tonnes of beef is imported into the Europe from South America on an annual basis. He warned that the amount of beef from South America will increase substantially if the Mercosur Deal is implemented. “Chicken from China is now being sold in a well known Irish supermarket. When it comes to beef there is no differentiation between grass-fed and feedlot beef on the supermarket shelf. “The carbon footprint of different methods of beef production needs to be looked at and should be reflected in the price,” …

THE Clare Beef Plan Movement has called for a total rethink in the way carbon emissions are analysed and for more consideration to the cyclical nature of livestock emissions. Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe believes new environmental studies need to be undertaken following the huge reduction in greenhouse gases from cars and planes as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Mr Woulfe said there has never been such a significant shift away from cars, ships, ferries and aeroplanes throughout the world. “There has been a seismic change in the use of different modes of transport over the last few months. Farmers are being unfairly blamed while the impact of the aviation industry isn’t being looked at. “It is if tourists flying from all over the world into Ireland on holidays don’t do any damage to the planet,” he said. Asked if he accepted that agriculture will have to play its role in the reduction …

CLAIM and counter claim continues to be levelled by farmers concerning a controversial annual general meeting of Clare Beef Plan, which was held in the Auburn Lodge Hotel last January. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, Dermot O’Brien, who signs off as “Beef Plan Movement National spokesperson” has taken issue with a Clare Champion report outlining the return of Joe Woulfe as chairman of Clare Beef Plan. “The title of the article “Woulfe resumes as chair of Beef plan” is inaccurate and the organisation is requesting that clarification on this article be made available. “Mr Woulfe is not the chairman of Clare Beef Plan and this position is currently filled by Rory Slattery as an interim chair. “There are difficulties in the Beef Plan Movement as an organisation currently, where proper election procedures were not followed and where the rules of governance and supplementary regulations were not followed,” he alleged. The national Beef Plan movement is in turmoil …