Forthright and direct, newly elected Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) president Dermot Kelleher is on a crusade to shake up the beef industry, while attracting new members to the organisation.

The west Cork man started life as a dairy farmer but ran into trouble with his quota in the 1980s.

He said he rang up the IFA for help, but said he was made to feel like a 30ac farm was “too small to care about”. Since then, he’s been a force of nature within the ICSA, driving growth in local membership, implementing fodder schemes and vocal on farmer issues.

Married to Mary, with three daughters and two sons, he started with 12ac but has built it up to just over 80ac, while keeping up an off-farm job as a postman for 38 years.

The biggest redistribution that needs to be done is on the cute hoors as I’d call them – the armchair farmers leasing land or the beef barons

Now retired from the postal route, he’s still actively farming with one of his sons, usually running 40 cattle with an emphasis on breeding and selling pedigree Charolais bulls.

He doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to his views on CAP.

“The biggest redistribution that needs to be done is on the cute hoors as I’d call them – the armchair farmers leasing land or the beef barons,” Kelleher says.

“Payments should be aimed at productive farmers and limited to €60,000. Someone doing a manual job off-farm to make ends meet I’ve no problem with, but if the bigger part of someone’s pay comes from off-farm, like a doctor or a big businessman, maybe they shouldn’t be considered farmers.”

Firm

He is equally firm on his position on the beef industry and believes much more emphasis needs to be put on live exports and educating the public about the benefits for Irish beef.

“We’re producing some of the best grass-fed beef in the world and we need to find a way to get it off this island without going through a processor,” Kelleher insists.

If a farmer can’t get €13 or €14/hour for their work on-farm then what’s the point?

“In a suckler herd they’re being weaned naturally and that’s not being told to the consumer – it’s all being lumped in together with some black and white [dairy beef] rubbish.

“Bord Bia is trying to say the consumer doesn’t know what grass-fed is but people didn’t know what Coca-Cola was until it was explained to them.

“The PGI needs to be controlled not by Bord Bia, who I think are too close to some processors, not saying they’re doing anything wrong but farmers need to be in charge of their own destiny.”

He is also frustrated with current movement rules, which he calls a “factory money spinner” and would like to see the Sheep Welfare Scheme increased. The low value Teagasc places on a farmer’s own labour also concerns him.

“If a farmer can’t get €13 or €14/hour for their work on-farm then what’s the point? A breakeven situation isn’t good enough, no one works for nothing anymore.”