A few years ago, I was asked to edit the history of the IFA to coincide with the organisation’s 60th anniversary. In going through the old archive material, I was fascinated to read the clear view that the organisation would be against and would try and influence legislation to counteract the inevitable drift towards vertical integration and the abuse of market power, both of which invariably have an adverse effect on farmers.

One of the most outrageous abuses of supermarket power is the advent of own labels. Why it is legal that the processors and, if applicable, the producers’ identity can be submerged beneath supermarket chains’ own label is something I can never understand. It so skews the whole relationship in favour of the supermarket and inevitably leads to a race to the bottom in terms of price and quality. Given the removal of below-cost selling legislation, the own-label phenomenon is deeply disturbing.

I was horrified to read Ciaran Fitzgerald’s piece in last week’s Irish Farmers Journal on how supermarkets are now insisting that if a new, innovative product is being given shelf space that a commitment must be made that if the product is successful, that an own label version will be produced. This is an abuse of bargaining power and it should be outlawed.

The erosion of the purchasing and bargaining power of farmers is so clear, sensible regulation of the market is essential.

The present voluntary arrangements for the retailers are a hodge-podge of different deals across 20 member states. As Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said at a recent meeting: “If 20 member states are taking action themselves, then there is a problem.”

On a parallel issue, it’s not that long ago that farmer co-ops were exempt from income tax in Ireland.

The decision to tax the granting of patronage co-op shares in the case of Kerry may fit neatly into the Revenue Commissioner process, but it is another example of the need for legislators to stand back and assess what is in farmers’ and the agri sector’s interest and introduce legislation accordingly.

We cannot be surprised if the average age of farmers continues to increase as more well-educated rural young people realise the legislative and market forces stacked against them.