'Nothing to stop Greencore setting higher price' - GreenShare

The current EU proposals on sugar beet are a disaster for profit margins available to farmers, but there is nothing in the EU Regulations to stop Greencore setting a beet price that makes beet growing an attractive profitable operation in Ireland. That's the view of GreenShare, the group representing farmer shareholders in Greencore.

The group also suggest that Greencore should look at the possibility of making inputs such as seed, fertilizers and chemicals available at cut-price wholesale rates to their growers, he suggested. By setting a fair price and controlling input costs, Greencore could ensure beet growing remained profitable, the group argue.

Green Share also suggest that growers should urgently establish their right to the ownership of sugar beet quota. "Quota has been legally bought and sold in recent times with the full approval of government and Greencore. This obviously implies ownership of the quota by the growers,'' Phillip Kinane said.

He added that in the event of this view being opposed then the Courts must be used to establish ownership in the same way as the 'Mulder Court Case' established farm ownership of milk quotas.

* GreenShare also announced that they are proposing that a National Sugar Beet Growers Conference, open to all growers, be held during July 2005. "The objective of this conference is to set out the priorities in relation to farmers' future in the sugar beet industry in Ireland,'' Kinane said.