I find myself increasingly pondering and analysing my own farming situation. When I say this, I don’t mean my husbandry levels, farm management or chosen enterprise.

What I mean is, is the whole thing worthwhile at all?

Suckler farming, even at a high level of performance, has never been a hugely profitable occupation. But that combined with the added pressure of the bad weather we’ve been experiencing in recent years has almost made the situation untenable.

There’s been a carrot dangled in front of beef farmers for years, leaving them in a situation where they don’t make a lot of profit, but don’t lose enough to make them stop

I’ve spent almost 20 years trying to build a reasonable herd of cows and develop as efficient and progressive farming system as I possibly could, so I don’t say these things lightly.

I remember a conversation I had with a neighbouring farmer some time back where we discussed the price of beef and how it had just dropped 10c/kg.

“I wish they’d pull it €2/kg,” he said. “At least we’d know then where we stand!”

There’s been a carrot dangled in front of beef farmers for years, leaving them in a situation where they don’t make a lot of profit, but don’t lose enough to make them stop.

I’ve grown up and spent my entire life involved in farming. From the age of five or six it was all that was in my head. I got my own few sheep around the age of 10 and from that point on I was hooked. I never had an interest in any other career outside of agriculture. When I was filling in my CAO form for college, the first place my career guidance teacher sent me was to talk to the local Teagasc adviser.

Selling the stock and leasing land

But as my life has evolved, I’ve gotten married and had a family and my priorities have changed. Although I could never see myself doing it, as a part-time farmer it saddens me to say that from a time, family and financial point of view, I’d be better off if I sold my stock and leased out my farm. This is unfortunately the feeling of a lot of farmers in my situation. It's habit and tradition that’s keeping them at it. The love of farming used to be in there as well, but this is slowly draining away.

One farmer recently told me: “It's just too hard, it doesn’t make sense anymore.” Not a good way for the cogs that keep a billion-euro industry turning to be feeling.

Future

So where does that leave us? What is the future for the Irish family farm, especially the farms run by part-time farmers?

Maybe the question should be, is there a future for the Irish family farm? The Save our Sucklers campaign organised by the Irish Farmers Journal gained huge success and hopefully might do some good, but with the next CAP budget reportedly being cut by 5%, it's hard to see an increase in direct supports unless they come from within our own Exchequer.

Farmers don’t want direct payments. They want a fair price for a fair product, a price that leaves them a fair profit. I don’t have the answers. All I know is if something doesn’t change, then the small- to medium-sized family-run farm will be a thing of the past. Maybe this is what needs to happen?

'Maybe the suckler cow needs go'

Maybe the suckler cow needs to go and we all need to think of different enterprises and uses for our land. Is this the future?

Farmers are caretakers of the landscape. Most farmers look after their own piece of land to the best of their ability, no matter the size or the quality of the land.

Most of the money earned on a small farm is spent maintaining it. If the smaller farm does end up being a thing of the past, this just won’t happen on the poorer quality land and in parts of the country. The picturesque landscape we all know and love will be a thing of the past too.

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