A BEEF crisis meeting is to be held in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, in an attempt to even the playing field for farming families who aren’t getting a fair return for their livestock.

National Beef Association and Farmers For Action have come together under NI Farm Groups to host the meeting on Tuesday, October 1, inviting any farmers and farm groups involved in the beef production process to come along and be a part of discussions.

The meeting looks to address the issue of 'unfair trading practices' by beef processors in Southern Ireland, which FFA allege are mimicked across the UK, and in particular focus on the falling prices being paid to farmers for their cattle across these islands.

FFA claimed that Irish beef processors own 30% of the abattoirs across the UK – but control over 70% of the UK beef market.

A spokesperson for the NI Farms Groups commented: “This amount of control has obviously reached an unsustainable dominant peak where farmers' share of the financial cake is no longer tenable. The large corporate food retailers and corporate food wholesalers have a lot to answer for in the mix, in that the financial pressure they exert on the processors is now extreme, which again tumbles down to the farmer.

“On top of this, many of the corporate food retailers and wholesalers are increasingly being supplied with Polish and other beef – a position that they cannot vindicate whilst claiming how green they are becoming to their consumers," he claimed.

“With many beef farmers on their knees financially and many others seeing no future, the time has come for Northern Ireland to play its part in supporting the efforts of family farmers and the farm organisations in Southern Ireland in their attempts to gain a level playing field for farming families,” he urged.

The crisis meeting will be held at 8pm on October 1 at Glenavon Hotel in Cookstown.