It is difficult to understand how long it is taking to get the Agri-Food Regulator operational.

It is now seven years since then-Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan launched an investigation into unfair trading practices in the marketing of agricultural produce.

This in time led to EU unfair trading practices legislation and to give that effect in Irish law, responsibility for enforcement was allocated to the Department of Agriculture, pending the establishment of the office.

That was in May 2022 and at last year's Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue spoke of having the office in place by the end of the year (2022).

That was the answer given again to the recent Dáil question by Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane - only this time he is referring to the end of 2023.

The Minister can point to ongoing activity including the passage of primary legislation in July and the appointment of a chief executive for the office back in May, but the reality is that it is taking a very long time to have the office operational.

It is clear that the Minister is committed to and invested in the project, but even with his best efforts, in reality, we will be well into 2024 before we see it fully functional.

Expectations

While farmers might have expectations, the Agri-Food Regulator's office won't fix the problems facing Irish farmers, particularly in relation to prices.

The scope for the office greatly increasing transparency in the industry beyond the farmgate is also vague. Perhaps that will become clearer in the secondary legislation the Minister is referring to in his explanation for the current delay.

The greatest service the office could deliver to farmers when it is eventually operational is to secure a level of transparency in value added beyond the farmgate that enlightens farmers on whether or not they are receiving a fair slice of the cake.

The US remains the benchmark for information and transparency and consideration of their model should be a starting point for the Irish office.

Big versus small

Of course, securing access to this information doesn’t add any value to the product leaving Irish farms, but it does assist understanding of market prices.

Farmers look into meat processing in particular and see the growth of super groups increasing their dominance of Irish meat processing.

In the absence of knowledge, they see acquisition after acquisition as removal of competition for buying cattle and sheep.

We also look to the US, where the Biden administration established a $1bn fund to assist the development of small independent processors outside the 'big four' which control 85% of US meat processing between them.

The other side of that debate is that rationalisation in processing brings economy of scale and processing efficiency.

Factory operators would refer to the earlier years of Irish beef export growth as being chaotic, with every buyer identified at trade shows being chased by a multitude of Irish factories, each in turn lowering the price they would accept for Irish beef.

This certainly didn’t add any value to the produce leaving Irish farms.

Value of transparency

One of the weaknesses of the Irish beef and sheepmeat industry is the lack of trust between farmer suppliers and processors. When prices are good, there is little debate, but when they fall, processors are blamed.

With the processing world hidden from farmers, it is inevitable that the lack of information creates distrust and often misunderstanding.

If the Agri-Food Regulator's office can bring transparency to the supply chain that builds farmer confidence, it will have been worth the long wait.