Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said that all options which could help the fertiliser price crisis must be examined as the EU faces into its second year of high fertiliser prices.

Minister McConalogue also commented on the need for the EU to sustain its fertiliser industry to ensure supplies are secure.

The Minister spoke ahead of a meeting of EU farm ministers on Monday, which is set to discuss the fertiliser availability and cost in the context of food security.

The European Commission recently released a communication document on fertilisers, giving the green light to state agencies to bulk-buy fertilisers before reselling to farmers at cheaper prices.

The Department of Agriculture has yet to respond to an Irish Farmers Journal query on whether this measure will be used by Ireland to lower fertiliser costs for farmers.

Autonomy

"In the case of fertilisers, I will emphasise the need for strategic autonomy in fertiliser production in Europe in the long term, in order to provide affordable fertilisers for European farmers,” said Minister McConalogue.

“We also need to maintain a level playing field across the European Union by avoiding interventions that may cause market distortion and to establish an observatory that will provide better data on stocks of fertilisers.

“Fertiliser prices are at the top of many farmers' minds and we must therefore also continue to explore all options to address the spike in prices in the short term.”

CAP schemes will support farmers to reduce fertiliser usage by becoming more efficient, the Minister also suggested.

Rewetting cash needed

On the European Commission’s proposed nature restoration law, McConalogue stated that funding streams other than CAP would be needed to finance implementation costs.

Aspects of the Commission’s plans need further consideration before becoming law, he said, acknowledging that the proposals will be challenging for farmers.

"I fully subscribe to the need to effectively manage and restore our natural habitats. At the same time, the proposed regulation gives rise to many challenges from the perspectives of agriculture, forestry and the marine.

“There are a number of issues which will require detailed consideration and we will feed into the discussions on these issues as appropriate.

“However, at this juncture, it is already clear that, given the scope and ambition of the proposal, it is unrealistic to expect that CAP funding, which is currently fully committed in line with member states’ CAP strategic plans, could be the main funding instrument to deliver these extremely ambitious targets."

Forestry

The EU farm ministers will discuss the EU Forest Strategy, which Minister McConalogue said Ireland will implement through the newly launched forestry programme.

"Ireland is preparing a new and hugely exciting forestry programme to start next year,” Minister McConalogue added.

“This new strategy stresses the multiple functions of forests and the essential balance between the ecological, climate, economic and social functions of forests, ensuring equal attention for all of these dimensions of sustainability. This is a concrete action aimed at delivering on all of these objectives.”

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