Grain growers organised a rapid protest on Tuesday morning after learning that a 4,500t shipment of imported barley was to arrive at Foynes port in Co Limerick. Two-hundred grain growers entered the port and massed alongside the boat, at which point the port operators halted unloading on health and safety grounds.
The growers were protesting over continuing low incomes in tillage. They also expressed anger at the importing of barley while there remains a surplus of last year’s crop sitting in sheds and just ahead of this year’s crop being harvested. Growers claimed that the shipment was scheduled to weaken prices at the time of their annual harvest.
The farmers were further angered when they sampled the imported barley and found it to be of just moderate quality. A sample was sent to two different laboratories and found to be relatively low in bushel weight and protein, despite low moisture, and to have very high screenings, ie chaff and chopped straw. The growers argued that imported low-quality barley like this should not be used by the trade as a benchmark for harvest price.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Merchants and compound feed mills have been reluctant to quote farmers for their grain in recent days as brokers bypass the local trade and import grain, which in many instances is of inferior quality,” IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy told the protesters.
“The Irish cereal sector is in danger of falling into terminal decline unless immediate and decisive action is taken to reverse the dramatic fall in incomes,” IFA grain chair Liam Dunne said.
Since 2012, the Irish cereal area has fallen by over 100,000 acres and this trend will accelerate unless there is a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for grain growers, he said.
Watch the full video here:
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
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.
Grain growers organised a rapid protest on Tuesday morning after learning that a 4,500t shipment of imported barley was to arrive at Foynes port in Co Limerick. Two-hundred grain growers entered the port and massed alongside the boat, at which point the port operators halted unloading on health and safety grounds.
The growers were protesting over continuing low incomes in tillage. They also expressed anger at the importing of barley while there remains a surplus of last year’s crop sitting in sheds and just ahead of this year’s crop being harvested. Growers claimed that the shipment was scheduled to weaken prices at the time of their annual harvest.
The farmers were further angered when they sampled the imported barley and found it to be of just moderate quality. A sample was sent to two different laboratories and found to be relatively low in bushel weight and protein, despite low moisture, and to have very high screenings, ie chaff and chopped straw. The growers argued that imported low-quality barley like this should not be used by the trade as a benchmark for harvest price.
“Merchants and compound feed mills have been reluctant to quote farmers for their grain in recent days as brokers bypass the local trade and import grain, which in many instances is of inferior quality,” IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy told the protesters.
“The Irish cereal sector is in danger of falling into terminal decline unless immediate and decisive action is taken to reverse the dramatic fall in incomes,” IFA grain chair Liam Dunne said.
Since 2012, the Irish cereal area has fallen by over 100,000 acres and this trend will accelerate unless there is a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for grain growers, he said.
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