Farmers must better understand their rights and act together to achieve success in their attempts to increase the price received for farm produce, Independent TD Carol Nolan has cautioned, as high input costs continue to erode farm margins.

Nolan urged farmers to inform themselves of the rights they are entitled to under the unfair trading practices (UTP) regulations, citing figures quoted to her by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue as evidence of farmers lacking insight of statutory protections provided to them.

“I accept that some movement is being made in the form of the new unfair trading practices enforcement authority,” the Laois-Offaly TD acknowledged.

“However, as Minister McConalogue made clear to me in a recent reply, only 14% of primary producers surveyed were aware of the fact that, as a supplier of agri-food product, they have legal protection against the 16 specific unfair trading practices, and only half of primary producers surveyed claim that they understand that the UTP regulations protect against unfair trading practices,” she said.

Unity needed

Supermarkets should shoulder more of the burden of increased input costs, argued the TD, stating that some retailers are benefiting from lacking farmer knowledge of UTP regulations to maintain low prices.

“We must ensure that more farmers and producers know their rights and that they act in a concerted and unified fashion to force change on the below cost issue from the multiples, who will, let us be in no doubt, continue to rely on a lack of awareness to keep the status quo in place.

“The multiples and the major supermarkets must be the ones to absorb the brunt of the financial hit, in the form of paying a decent price for quality Irish goods - not families, farmers and producers.

“The farmer and producer are experiencing massive hikes in the form of input costs, fertiliser price increases, green diesel and other agricultural contractor-related expenses, but when they go to sell their goods, they continue to receive below the cost in return,” said Deputy Nolan.

Consumers struggling

Deputy Nolan recognised that simply hiking food prices on supermarket shelves may not represent the entire solution to issues facing farmers, as doing so could disproportionately affect lower-income households.

“Families and people on low to middle incomes are being hit by a tsunami of price rises right across the board, on everything from food, to home heating, to energy, rent and education and health,” she explained.

“It is therefore absolutely imperative that Government takes whatever steps it can to protect them from the impact of all this.

“However, it is also clear that farmers and food producers continue to be confronted by the fact that below-cost selling continues as standard practice in many of the major multiples,” the Laois-Offaly TD concluded.