From left: Flor McCarthy, Joe Healy and Henry Burns taking part in the Irish Farmers Journal live IFA election debate on Friday night.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three candidates in the race for IFA president took part in a special edition of Around the Editor’s Table on Friday night. Chaired by Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy, the debate covered a broad range of topics including farm incomes, tackling price volatility in all sectors, what the pay of the next president should be as well as governance issues within the IFA.
Farm incomes
ADVERTISEMENT
Given that the first major issue the next IFA president will have to tackle is the current crisis facing many family farm incomes, it was a natural area for the debate to start.
Outgoing IFA livestock chair Henry Burns said the first thing the IFA needs to do once a new government is formed is put on “massive pressure” on the new Minister for Agriculture to get an increase in the overall agriculture budget next year.
Burns added that the cost of compliance had become a major issue for many farmers and it was something that needed to be made simpler for farmers.
Former Macra president Joe Healy said that ANC payments need to be restored to pre-2008 levels for farmers, who took the hit on these payments during the difficult years. Healy added that the various schemes already in place such as GLAS need to be improved to make them worthwhile for farmers to engage with.
He also said he would seek the payment under the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) be increased to €200 per suckler cow while a new €20 per ewe payment should be seen as a demand and not just a wish.
Kerry native and outgoing rural development chair of the IFA Flor McCarthy said the association needed to take a new approach to tackling farm incomes. He said that on the dairy side, Irish farmers produce a high-end product which co-ops and processors were using to generate massive increases in profits even in times of poor commodity prices.
McCarthy said that if elected he would tackle these processors and demand they return a higher price to farm families out of the high-end products at a time of price challenge like we currently have.
On the beef side, McCarthy said the first thing he will do is hold four regional meetings with beef farmers and finishers because the industry is currently not sustainable with prices of €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg.
Price volatility
On tackling price volatility, Henry Burns said that farm organisations at European level needed to gain consensus before any progress could be made to tackle volatility. He added that in the beef sector it’s all about competition in Ireland and the likes of the live export deals with Egypt and Turkey will give some hope to this.
Burns also made it clear that the overall beef market in Europe is at a low ebb right now with prices in a bad place due to falling consumption. He said that the Irish beef sector desperately needs the European economy to improve.
Joe Healy called for greater transparency of the processors and retailers business for farmers. He noted how many retailers refer to Ireland as “treasure island” because they don’t have to show their profits in this country.
He called for government legislation for an industry ombudsman or regulator to ensure there is a margin at all times for the farmer, who cannot continue to produce at below cost.
Flor McCarthy said the IFA first needs to highlight how processors are cutting costs and farmer prices but still reporting major increases in profits. He said the IFA was set up to tackle issues like this and the association needs to be at the table driving this agenda for better farmer prices.
Corporate governance in IFA
On the challenges that the IFA faces today after a difficult six months, Flor McCarthy said that members want to see the association back working again. He said the organisation needs to unite, get moving and get working on behalf of farmers but said it was obvious that full transparency from here on would be required.
He said that the recent crisis represented a unique opportunity to take IFA back to the farmers, that the organisation is controlled by farmers and works for farmers.
Henry Burns said to restore the confidence of the membership on the ground, the IFA needs to be more open and transform its structures to those of a modern organisation. Burns said the IFA was not a business but rather a representative body that needs to be run “like a business”.
Joe Healy said that what the IFA needs now to rebuild the trust and morale of its members is full transparency, better communication and delivery. He said that members need to reconnect with the organisation. He said that word on the ground from the voting that has already taken place in the IFA elections is that turnout is low.
Healy added that if members wanted to go back before 2009 in terms of the Con Lucey report then he would be happy to facilitate that as president.
Presidential pay
All three candidates agreed the IFA president should have no hand or say in setting their own pay and that as part of the recommendations from the Con Lucey report, a remuneration committee must be established to set the pay of both the IFA president and its general secretary from now on.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
The three candidates in the race for IFA president took part in a special edition of Around the Editor’s Table on Friday night. Chaired by Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy, the debate covered a broad range of topics including farm incomes, tackling price volatility in all sectors, what the pay of the next president should be as well as governance issues within the IFA.
Farm incomes
Given that the first major issue the next IFA president will have to tackle is the current crisis facing many family farm incomes, it was a natural area for the debate to start.
Outgoing IFA livestock chair Henry Burns said the first thing the IFA needs to do once a new government is formed is put on “massive pressure” on the new Minister for Agriculture to get an increase in the overall agriculture budget next year.
Burns added that the cost of compliance had become a major issue for many farmers and it was something that needed to be made simpler for farmers.
Former Macra president Joe Healy said that ANC payments need to be restored to pre-2008 levels for farmers, who took the hit on these payments during the difficult years. Healy added that the various schemes already in place such as GLAS need to be improved to make them worthwhile for farmers to engage with.
He also said he would seek the payment under the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) be increased to €200 per suckler cow while a new €20 per ewe payment should be seen as a demand and not just a wish.
Kerry native and outgoing rural development chair of the IFA Flor McCarthy said the association needed to take a new approach to tackling farm incomes. He said that on the dairy side, Irish farmers produce a high-end product which co-ops and processors were using to generate massive increases in profits even in times of poor commodity prices.
McCarthy said that if elected he would tackle these processors and demand they return a higher price to farm families out of the high-end products at a time of price challenge like we currently have.
On the beef side, McCarthy said the first thing he will do is hold four regional meetings with beef farmers and finishers because the industry is currently not sustainable with prices of €3.80/kg to €3.90/kg.
Price volatility
On tackling price volatility, Henry Burns said that farm organisations at European level needed to gain consensus before any progress could be made to tackle volatility. He added that in the beef sector it’s all about competition in Ireland and the likes of the live export deals with Egypt and Turkey will give some hope to this.
Burns also made it clear that the overall beef market in Europe is at a low ebb right now with prices in a bad place due to falling consumption. He said that the Irish beef sector desperately needs the European economy to improve.
Joe Healy called for greater transparency of the processors and retailers business for farmers. He noted how many retailers refer to Ireland as “treasure island” because they don’t have to show their profits in this country.
He called for government legislation for an industry ombudsman or regulator to ensure there is a margin at all times for the farmer, who cannot continue to produce at below cost.
Flor McCarthy said the IFA first needs to highlight how processors are cutting costs and farmer prices but still reporting major increases in profits. He said the IFA was set up to tackle issues like this and the association needs to be at the table driving this agenda for better farmer prices.
Corporate governance in IFA
On the challenges that the IFA faces today after a difficult six months, Flor McCarthy said that members want to see the association back working again. He said the organisation needs to unite, get moving and get working on behalf of farmers but said it was obvious that full transparency from here on would be required.
He said that the recent crisis represented a unique opportunity to take IFA back to the farmers, that the organisation is controlled by farmers and works for farmers.
Henry Burns said to restore the confidence of the membership on the ground, the IFA needs to be more open and transform its structures to those of a modern organisation. Burns said the IFA was not a business but rather a representative body that needs to be run “like a business”.
Joe Healy said that what the IFA needs now to rebuild the trust and morale of its members is full transparency, better communication and delivery. He said that members need to reconnect with the organisation. He said that word on the ground from the voting that has already taken place in the IFA elections is that turnout is low.
Healy added that if members wanted to go back before 2009 in terms of the Con Lucey report then he would be happy to facilitate that as president.
Presidential pay
All three candidates agreed the IFA president should have no hand or say in setting their own pay and that as part of the recommendations from the Con Lucey report, a remuneration committee must be established to set the pay of both the IFA president and its general secretary from now on.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS