In August of last year, Adam Woods calculated that farmers finishing cattle out of the shed this spring would require a beef price of €4.85/kg if they were to secure a margin of €100 per head. At present, not only are farmers taking a price closer to €3.75/kg, but they are being forced to wait three to four weeks just to get cattle slaughtered. Taking a bad price is one thing – but having to continue to put feed into cattle that are losing money every day they are on the farm is soul-destroying.
The sums are quite straightforward: at current prices, a store animal that was purchased last autumn and currently coming fit for slaughter is losing from €200 to €250 per head.
Against this backdrop, the level of despair and anger among winter finishers is hardly surprising.
They have been let down by a beef forum that for the past four years has been used as a political mudguard rather than a platform from which to tackle the real issues facing the sector. It has totally ignored the fact that a winter finishing model where farmers carry all the risk is not sustainable. Once again we see farmers heading into a spring where the beef price is below what was paid the previous autumn for cattle off grass. In this environment, Ireland cannot afford to continue to produce beef all-year round, especially where farmers are being pushed out of the more efficient bull-beef systems.
Billy Glasheen: 'Why should I be expected to work for nothing?'
It is a fact largely being ignored by all stakeholders who appear content to maintain a year-round supply on the basis that, each year, winter finishers will continue to take a gamble.
The need for Teagasc to carry out a detailed economic analysis to identify the true costs to farmers of producing beef all-year round is long overdue.
One farmer that certainly has his costs worked out is Waterford beef finisher Billy Glasheen, whom we feature on pages 32 and 33. In the context of the beef sector, he is certainly not alone in asking the question: “Why should I be expected to work for nothing?”
In tackling the challenges facing beef farmers at present, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has strong grounds on which to seek immediate support from the EU. The Government has repeatedly committed to Irish farmers that they would not be left exposed to Brexit. Minister Creed now accepts that currency volatility has adversely affected the sector – so where is the response?
Minister Creed now accepts that currency volatility has adversely affected the sector – so where is the response?
Meanwhile, Bord Bia published its annual export performance and prospects report this week. News of increased volume growth and job creation in 2018 will come as little comfort to the majority of farmers who saw farmgate prices and profitability decline. As a result, despite record volumes, the total value of exports was down on the previous year.
While an excellent record of industry performance in 2018, the report is light in outlining prospects for 2019. With its range of offices spread across the globe, Bord Bia should be in a position to acquire market intelligence on sales and values across all commodities and publish on either a weekly or monthly basis. It should also go further and demand that the factories who use its services – and fly under the Origin Green banner in international markets – cooperate to produce a regular inventory of stocks and wholesale prices, as is the case in the US.
Also this week, Eoin Lowry discusses the impact of Brexit with Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy. While McCarthy is confident that UK supermarkets will not de-list Irish products post-Brexit, the main concern for farmers has to be the value of the market post-Brexit. Being on the retail shelf is one thing – competing with Brazilian beef that is currently trading at €2.08/kg excl VAT is something totally different.
Unfortunately, farmers continue to be left in the dark as to what a post-Brexit market might look like. According to McCarthy, Bord Bia has not carried out any modelling or analysis, while Minister Creed will only commit to the fact that the modelling exercise carried out by the Department of Agriculture presented a lot of “bleak scenarios”.
Forestry: replanting obligation and falling planting
The legal requirement to replant land after the removal of a tree crop has long been regarded as a barrier to afforestation in Ireland.
While the permanent removal of trees and forests is permitted in certain limited circumstances, in most cases, once land is planted, it remains under forest cover in perpetuity.
Now, for the first time, the Forest Land Availability Implementation Group Report, commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and produced by COFORD, acknowledges that the requirement to replant is a barrier to afforestation (see Donal Magner's article here). The report maintains “that relaxing the replanting obligation would reassure people and may positively impact on forested land values”.
A risk of deforestation is the main reason why the Department insists on retaining the replanting obligation. However, the report argues that “in reality, most afforested land provides only marginal returns in agriculture and the high costs associated with returning it to agricultural use makes this land use reversion unlikely”.
The report provides a number of suggestions on how to address the issue, including establishing a pilot or research project “to investigate the impact of different replanting obligation scenarios”.
The replanting obligation is not the only reason for low planting levels. However, it is both a real and psychological barrier for some farmers faced with the decision to convert land to forestry. The report requires serious consideration by the Department, especially at a time when afforestation has fallen dramatically.
The planting outturn for 2018 is likely to be little more than 4,500 ha, the lowest since 1950.
This is well short of the Department’s own 7,200 ha afforestation programme, not to mention its FoodWise 2025 strategy which sets and annual target of 15,000 ha.
Dairy: investing in dairy equipment at an all-time high
Investment in milking equipment for managing larger milking herds is at an all-time high. The number of rotary parlours being installed in Ireland has never been higher. A small corner of Tipperary has three large-scale rotary parlours being commissioned this week.
Over the last three years, we have seen the multimillion euro large-scale investments by milk processors which, indirectly, is farmers’ money invested in the sector. Rarely do we hear of the ongoing individual investment by farmers and never do we see a total figure on the value for the construction or service sector jobs that is happening as we speak in the dairy industry.
The pace of change in the industry is extraordinary and greater than anything we have experienced in this country. See Focus for more.
Meanwhile as we report here, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys has indicated that the next round of low-cost loans will be available to farmers in March.
There have been a number of false dawns in relation to the rollout of the scheme, initially expected to be available to farmers in early to mid 2018. Given the level of investment taking place on farms, getting access to finance at a competitive rate is important.
We hope there are no more barriers to overcome that will delay the rollout of the scheme any further.
Farm payments: feedback on Department payment figures
We have received feedback from the Department of Agriculture on an article published on 19 December with the headline: “Department inflates payment figures”. To be clear, the article was designed in no way to convey that Department officials were wilfully fabricating figures. We recognise the effort Department staff make to ensure prompt payment and the efficiency with which they do this. The intention was to convey the presentation differences in consistency for various schemes and the frustration of the author in determining “eligible”, “ineligible” and “applied for” numbers for all schemes. The Department has since furnished us with farmer numbers paid at a time point comparing the last three years.
Read more
Beef price guarantee needed now
In August of last year, Adam Woods calculated that farmers finishing cattle out of the shed this spring would require a beef price of €4.85/kg if they were to secure a margin of €100 per head. At present, not only are farmers taking a price closer to €3.75/kg, but they are being forced to wait three to four weeks just to get cattle slaughtered. Taking a bad price is one thing – but having to continue to put feed into cattle that are losing money every day they are on the farm is soul-destroying.
The sums are quite straightforward: at current prices, a store animal that was purchased last autumn and currently coming fit for slaughter is losing from €200 to €250 per head.
Against this backdrop, the level of despair and anger among winter finishers is hardly surprising.
They have been let down by a beef forum that for the past four years has been used as a political mudguard rather than a platform from which to tackle the real issues facing the sector. It has totally ignored the fact that a winter finishing model where farmers carry all the risk is not sustainable. Once again we see farmers heading into a spring where the beef price is below what was paid the previous autumn for cattle off grass. In this environment, Ireland cannot afford to continue to produce beef all-year round, especially where farmers are being pushed out of the more efficient bull-beef systems.
Billy Glasheen: 'Why should I be expected to work for nothing?'
It is a fact largely being ignored by all stakeholders who appear content to maintain a year-round supply on the basis that, each year, winter finishers will continue to take a gamble.
The need for Teagasc to carry out a detailed economic analysis to identify the true costs to farmers of producing beef all-year round is long overdue.
One farmer that certainly has his costs worked out is Waterford beef finisher Billy Glasheen, whom we feature on pages 32 and 33. In the context of the beef sector, he is certainly not alone in asking the question: “Why should I be expected to work for nothing?”
In tackling the challenges facing beef farmers at present, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has strong grounds on which to seek immediate support from the EU. The Government has repeatedly committed to Irish farmers that they would not be left exposed to Brexit. Minister Creed now accepts that currency volatility has adversely affected the sector – so where is the response?
Minister Creed now accepts that currency volatility has adversely affected the sector – so where is the response?
Meanwhile, Bord Bia published its annual export performance and prospects report this week. News of increased volume growth and job creation in 2018 will come as little comfort to the majority of farmers who saw farmgate prices and profitability decline. As a result, despite record volumes, the total value of exports was down on the previous year.
While an excellent record of industry performance in 2018, the report is light in outlining prospects for 2019. With its range of offices spread across the globe, Bord Bia should be in a position to acquire market intelligence on sales and values across all commodities and publish on either a weekly or monthly basis. It should also go further and demand that the factories who use its services – and fly under the Origin Green banner in international markets – cooperate to produce a regular inventory of stocks and wholesale prices, as is the case in the US.
Also this week, Eoin Lowry discusses the impact of Brexit with Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy. While McCarthy is confident that UK supermarkets will not de-list Irish products post-Brexit, the main concern for farmers has to be the value of the market post-Brexit. Being on the retail shelf is one thing – competing with Brazilian beef that is currently trading at €2.08/kg excl VAT is something totally different.
Unfortunately, farmers continue to be left in the dark as to what a post-Brexit market might look like. According to McCarthy, Bord Bia has not carried out any modelling or analysis, while Minister Creed will only commit to the fact that the modelling exercise carried out by the Department of Agriculture presented a lot of “bleak scenarios”.
Forestry: replanting obligation and falling planting
The legal requirement to replant land after the removal of a tree crop has long been regarded as a barrier to afforestation in Ireland.
While the permanent removal of trees and forests is permitted in certain limited circumstances, in most cases, once land is planted, it remains under forest cover in perpetuity.
Now, for the first time, the Forest Land Availability Implementation Group Report, commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and produced by COFORD, acknowledges that the requirement to replant is a barrier to afforestation (see Donal Magner's article here). The report maintains “that relaxing the replanting obligation would reassure people and may positively impact on forested land values”.
A risk of deforestation is the main reason why the Department insists on retaining the replanting obligation. However, the report argues that “in reality, most afforested land provides only marginal returns in agriculture and the high costs associated with returning it to agricultural use makes this land use reversion unlikely”.
The report provides a number of suggestions on how to address the issue, including establishing a pilot or research project “to investigate the impact of different replanting obligation scenarios”.
The replanting obligation is not the only reason for low planting levels. However, it is both a real and psychological barrier for some farmers faced with the decision to convert land to forestry. The report requires serious consideration by the Department, especially at a time when afforestation has fallen dramatically.
The planting outturn for 2018 is likely to be little more than 4,500 ha, the lowest since 1950.
This is well short of the Department’s own 7,200 ha afforestation programme, not to mention its FoodWise 2025 strategy which sets and annual target of 15,000 ha.
Dairy: investing in dairy equipment at an all-time high
Investment in milking equipment for managing larger milking herds is at an all-time high. The number of rotary parlours being installed in Ireland has never been higher. A small corner of Tipperary has three large-scale rotary parlours being commissioned this week.
Over the last three years, we have seen the multimillion euro large-scale investments by milk processors which, indirectly, is farmers’ money invested in the sector. Rarely do we hear of the ongoing individual investment by farmers and never do we see a total figure on the value for the construction or service sector jobs that is happening as we speak in the dairy industry.
The pace of change in the industry is extraordinary and greater than anything we have experienced in this country. See Focus for more.
Meanwhile as we report here, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys has indicated that the next round of low-cost loans will be available to farmers in March.
There have been a number of false dawns in relation to the rollout of the scheme, initially expected to be available to farmers in early to mid 2018. Given the level of investment taking place on farms, getting access to finance at a competitive rate is important.
We hope there are no more barriers to overcome that will delay the rollout of the scheme any further.
Farm payments: feedback on Department payment figures
We have received feedback from the Department of Agriculture on an article published on 19 December with the headline: “Department inflates payment figures”. To be clear, the article was designed in no way to convey that Department officials were wilfully fabricating figures. We recognise the effort Department staff make to ensure prompt payment and the efficiency with which they do this. The intention was to convey the presentation differences in consistency for various schemes and the frustration of the author in determining “eligible”, “ineligible” and “applied for” numbers for all schemes. The Department has since furnished us with farmer numbers paid at a time point comparing the last three years.
Read more
Beef price guarantee needed now
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