Agriculture is one industry that permeates into every sector of society.

As well as us farmers there is an involvement of a long line of services, suppliers and purchasers totalling 300,000 Irish people according to the recent IFA analysis. Of course any rural town will tell you how dependant on farmer spending they are, and of course the consumer is also dependant on a supply of food. Add that to the fact that farming is highly visible in the roadside fields and it’s obvious how the general public has such an interest.

I attend a lot of conferences in my IFA capacity, many of them I could be the only person whose main income comes directly from farming. It doesn’t mean of course that farming wouldn’t be on the agenda. In fact the agricultural segment can prompt the biggest number of questions and comments. Among the genuine questions there will usually be a few loaded scud missiles aimed by people with not so hidden agendas. Food Harvest 2020’s expansion plans, especially because of the bovine content is the most likely target.

At yesterday’s EPA Environment Ireland conference in Croke Park once again cows are killing the planet, we should all build digesters and grow energy crops, and arable is the only crop worth growing or eating, but there needs to be a levy on sprays to limit their use. Reality is that farmers will produce a crop or an animal only if it is suited to their land and there is at least some remote chance that it will make an income.

Limiting beef production in Ireland will not reduce meat consumption, it will simply mean consumers will look elsewhere for supplies. Many of the innovators who planted specialised biomass crops have, in the words of Teagasc’s Gerry Boyle, “lost their shirts”. With current energy policy it simply doesn’t pay, so it is actually worrying to me how many are telling us farmers that we should plant them, and then expect that the market will miraculously appear. Likewise with grains and vegetables there is no point in planting in unsuitable ground, or expecting a guaranteed market to appear for a perishable crop that is highly influenced by global supply. Tillage is a specialised and tight margin job, a levy on sprays already limited in availability by licencing could push the sector out of the country completely.

As an industry we cannot ignore the misplaced influence others try to exert on our livelihood. This Saturday (13-9) I will be speaking at a sustainability conference in Skibbereen, organised as part of the Taste of West Cork Festival. I will base my presentation on smartfarming.ie, aiming to save money and be good for the environment at the same time. The true key to sustainability is profit. Profit for every link in the chain including farmers, retailers and butterflies.