A is for Arrabawn: In September, Arrabawn rejected a merger proposal from Dairygold. The Tipperary-based co-op declined to enter talks on the offer.

B is for Basic Payment Scheme: The Single Farm Payment (SFP) is no more. Instead it is being replaced as of 2015 with the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

C is for Covers: What an exceptional year 2014 was for grass growth. Farmers in every part of the country reported exceptional grass growing conditions all year with strong growth continuing into November in some counties. Farmers reported as high as 15t/ha of grass growth; on average 2t/ha more than 2013.

D is for Dairy: A mixed year for the dairy sector. Optimism as a result of quotas going (see Q) and strong prices have been eroded by a fall in prices and a poor price outlook for 2015. While 2015 looks like being a difficult year, most agree that the longer term outlook remains good.

E is for Eddie: Eddie Downey took office as the 14th president of the IFA in January. Taking over from John Bryan, Downey has had a tough year with difficulties in the beef, tillage and dairy sectors.

F is for farm safety: 2014 has been a bad year for farm safety. So far, 29 people have lost their lives on Irish farms. In July, the IFA held a farm safety day encouraging farmers to complete a farm safety survey.

G is for GLAS: Green Low-carbon Agriculture Scheme (GLAS) replaces AEOS. GLAS has been dubbed the “new REPS” and 30,000 farmers will be accepted into the scheme in 2015. There is a maximum payment of €5,000/annum with some exceptional cases receiving an extra €2,000.

H is for Hogan: Former environment minister and Kilkenny TD Phil Hogan was appointed to the prestigious position of EU Agriculture Commissioner in September.

I is for investigations: In October, the Department of Agriculture disbanded its controversial Special Investigations Unit (SIU) which has been replaced by a new Investigations Division which will carry out many of the same functions of the SIU but will be monitored more closely.

J is for John Moloney: In November, the Department of Agriculture announced Agri Strategy 2025. This the follow up to the Food Harvest 2020 strategy and will be chaired by former Glanbia boss John Moloney.

K is for Kildare Chilling: rumours surfaced again this year that Dawn Meats had secured a deal to purchase Kildare Chilling. Although Dawn refused to confirm or deny a deal, it is understood that talks are continuing on a deal which could make Dawn the largest beef processor in the country.

L is for Land Eligibility: Ireland has been threatened with a €181m fine by the European Commission over land which the Commission now deem to be ineligible for claiming subsidies. The Department of Agriculture here is currently negotiating with the Commission in an attempt to reduce the fine; a decision will be made in 2015.

M is for Moran: After 10 years as the supremo in Agriculture House, Tom Moran has stepped down as secretary general of the Department of Agriculture.

N is for nomad: Farm groups and political parties worked to find a solution to the issue of nomad cattle – cattle born and reared in the Republic of Ireland and slaughtered in the UK. Farmers often received penalties when these cattle were killed. It had been hoped that an all-Ireland beef label would solve the problem but it seems it is not happening in the short term.

O is for oats: Glanbia opened a state-of-the-art oat mill in Portlaoise. Oats produced in the mill are being used to supply milled oat products for the McCann brand in the US.

P is for protests: As the beef price crisis of 2014 intensified, the IFA staged two separate protests outside the country’s beef processing plants; a 24-hour lockdown in October was followed by a 48-hour protest in November. The IFA said that Irish beef prices had slipped 20% in a year and were worth €350/head less than equivalent cattle in the UK.

Q is for quotas: This was the final full year of milk quotas in Ireland. From 1 April 2015, quotas are being removed meaning there will be no limit on the volume of milk dairy farmers can produce for the first time since 1983. The expansion will lead to Ireland being significantly over-quota this year, however.

R is for Russia: Russia was no friend to Ireland in 2014. In January a ban on the importation of EU pigmeat hit prices. In May, following an inspection of our beef and dairy plants, Russia banned the importation of certain beef and dairy products from Ireland. The Russian Federation then implemented a ban on food imports from the EU, US, Australia and Norway.

S is for spring beans: Protein crops such as spring beans will benefit from the protein supplement as agreed in the new CAP. The target area for planting is 12,000ha with a payment of €250/ha.

T is for Taxation: The findings of a review of all agri-tax measures were announced as part of this year’s budget. The review included 25 measures, with the most high-profile ones being aimed at increasing land mobility.

U is for U-turn: After pledging to look at all avenues to keep the Grassland Sheep Scheme payment as a separate payment for farmers, Minister Coveney did a U-turn and subsumed the payment into each farmer’s Single Farm Payment.

V is Vilsack: US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack visited Ireland in June. He met with Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to discuss trade talks and getting Irish beef into the US market as well as visiting a beef and dairy farm.

W is for weather: 2014 was a good year on the weather front, with only pockets of the country affected by drought and great grass and crop growth. January and February were stormy, with one particularly bad storm – Darwin – sweeping across the country on 12 February. High winds caused structural damage across the country, with Limerick, Carlow and Kilkenny particularly badly hit. It turned out to be an exceptional summer. The hottest day of the year fell on 8 July, where a sweltering 30.1°C was recorded at Oakpark in Carlow.

X is for Xi Jingping: Chinese president Xi Jingping has given an initial okay to Irish beef re-entering the lucrative Chinese market. Some market sources suggest that we could see Irish beef on sale in China in 2015 although this is likely to be 2016.

Y is for young farmers: Young farmers are the winners from the last CAP negotiations. From 2015, any young farmer (under 40), who is a trained farmer, or is on the way to being trained, can avail of a 25% top-up on their Basic Payment Scheme payment.

Z is for Zetor: In October, Zetor launched its Forterra tractor. This is the first 150bhp tractor the company has developed – it is expected to sell for around €65,000.