On a visit to Brussels last week, it really struck me how Brexit has the capacity to utterly change the face of Irish agriculture, especially on the beef side, where 250,000 tonnes of beef – if displaced from Britain – has the capacity to cause chaos on the broad European market.

It is remarkable how as farmers we have almost totally ignored the growing agricultural importance of China – it is now our second biggest market for dairy products and pigmeat.

We have, in my view, collectively ignored how China differs from the normal western world in its attitudes, never mind the scale and growing wealth of its citizens. As farmers, we have been content to sit back and let our agribusiness firms and multinational customers make the running. We should ask if this is sensible and in farmers’ interests.

For me, the key difference is the central overriding role of the state in the direction and management of Chinese affairs.

Ireland has several historical advantages in establishing business, cultural and personal relationships with China. But we have used the Irish State and ministerial visits to open doors and then we have seen the State stand back and let private business take over. It is, in my view, time to reassess.

The rising number of educated and financially comfortable Chinese have a developed view of the safety and quality of imported products. We are unusual in this country in that we have a State organisation with a quasi-official quality authenticating mechanism through Bord Bia’s Origin Green endorsement.

We should at least examine if the endorsement of a State body would be an influential instrument in increasing the return available to Irish beef farmers and, if so, how could that be organised in terms of price, quality and logistics. There are examples to be noted: the ESB is a State body with a monopoly in areas of its business – it bids, with the backing of the Irish Government, for contracts abroad.

It is time to act; with the dramatic increase in Chinese beef consumption – imports have grown from just 100,000 tonnes a few years ago to 800,000 tonnes this year to a forecast two million tonnes by 2025.

This is a unique opportunity to stand back and assess Ireland’s real strengths and possibilities in the face of a truly historic opportunity.

Should Bord Bia, in conjunction with farmers, have some real marketing and supply management function on the Chinese market and project Irish beef as a distinct national product with a legally protected status?

As in the case of Kerrygold butter and the Irish Dairy Board, factories could be commissioned for a fee to slaughter for the Chinese market but the profits, as also in the case of Kerrygold butter, could go back to farmers.