Ireland imported over 740,000t (747,396t) of grain for use in animal feed from Mercosur countries in 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The Irish Grain Growers Group (IGGG) said that this is the equivalent of 500 lorry loads being hauled from Irish harbours each week delivered from Mercosur countries.
“About 175,000 lorry loads of feedstuffs are loaded on our docks each year to arrive at feed mills where it’s mixed with our native Irish grain and pulses with no distinction made by the feed mills when selling on their products,” the IGGG stated.
According to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most amount of animal feed was imported in the following forms in 2023:
- Oil-cake and solid residues resulting from the extracts of fats or oils of soya beans: 384,286t;
- Vegetable residues and by-products, vegetable materials and vegetable waste, whether or not in the form of pellets, of a kind used for animal food: 354,557t;
- Maize (not including sweet corn), unmilled, other than seed: 150,452t.
There is a requirement that all imports of animal feed are notified to DAFM, however the IGGG said that there is “no requirement to use or promote native Irish grain”.
“Some mills pay scant regard to considering Irish grain and pulses in their products leaving those willing to use native at a competitive disadvantage on a regular basis,” the IGGG stated.
The group made its comments following the political agreement reached on the new trade deal with Europe and Mercosur.
Under the trade agreement, an additional 99,000t of beef will enter the EU from the South American countries with a 7.5% duty rate.
55% of the quota will consist of fresh or chilled meat and the remaining 45% of lower-value frozen meat.
According to the commission the overall volume represents 1.6% of total European beef production and is less than half of the current imports from Mercosur, which are at 196,000t (2023).
Mercosur countries
The IGGG said that tillage farmers have been dealing with the “consequences of trading with Mercosur countries” and other countries outside the EU for the past few decades.
“Farm bodies, politicians , MEPs and the meat industry are speaking of their concerns about the Mercosur deal and rightly so.
“However this is set against the backdrop of the continued increase of feedstuff imports with the decline of the tillage area – down approx 40% since 1980,” the IGGG stated.
“The reality for the Irish tillage sector is that we have been dealing with Mercosur countries for decades now to our cost.
“Livestock farmers are our valuable customers , we need to support them. However if they want our support they need to be supporting us too,” the group added.