Cattle farmers facing autumn crisis
The Irish Farmers Association has said that cattle farmers are facing a crisis this autumn because of the collapse in beef prices.
The sharp fall in prices is due to BSE controls which only allow cattle under the age of 30 months to enter the food chain.
Many markets outside the European Union, including Egypt, are also closed to Irish beef because of several scares surrounding the safety of EU beef.
Ireland depends more on these so-called third-country markets than any other country in the EU.
