Irish farmers should very clearly be at the top of the queue when it comes to protecting incomes from any Brexit fallout.
This was the sentiment delivered by former Minister for Agriculture and current Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney in a webinar with the Irish Farmers Journal this week. The message from the minister was clear and concise and will provide some comfort for farmers as we approach 60 days from the start of the transition period. More importantly, there are less than two weeks to go before some sort of a deal needs to be reached.
On our webinar on Tuesday, Minister Coveney very clearly spelled out the EU and Irish moves already made and what more needs to be done.
He said farmers had a very real case to make for significant calls on the €5bn Brexit adjustment fund, the €3.4bn fund yet to be allocated in the recent budget and, importantly, a special fund to protect lost market share and value in the short term. This fund would be used to compensate and support food producers to keep product in UK supermarkets.
He very clearly suggested a policy of protecting current trade and value with the UK was by far the best policy. Minister Coveney is right – diversification of markets to far away countries is not the answer in the short term but of course is part of the long-term strategic vision of an exporting nation rather than putting all its eggs in one basket.
Brexit implications
The implications of a no-deal Brexit are clear: total Irish trade with the UK is in the order of €5.5bn and with WTO tariffs of €1.35bn, it would simply make that business unsustainable.
This commitment “to find ways of maintaining Irish market share on supermarket shelves” is an essential signal to give confidence to Irish farmers who are now feeding cattle in sheds. The market that these cattle will come on to in 2021 is very different from the present market.
Introducing intervention for beef that immediately reduces the value of the product should only be considered as a last resort. Alternative and additional funding mechanisms to support farmer incomes need careful consideration.
What Minister Coveney has identified is a path to giving farmers confidence to continue through these incredibly uncertain times and this must be the starting point for Government policy in managing the impact of Brexit on Irish agriculture.
This, along with COVID-19, may be the most immediate challenge facing Irish agriculture.
Farmers will take some positive vibes from what Minister Coveney said during the webinar – especially with his suggestion that there will be a Brexit deal reached. His suggestion that the silence means progress is ongoing or at the very least sensible negotiations are taking place is noteworthy.
US elections
Another interesting aspect of the webinar on Tuesday were thoughts shared on how a change of president in the United States might change America’s negotiating stance. Our guest Darci Vetter, who led the US negotiation on agriculture in the now suspended TTIP trade negotiation between the EU and the US, explained what a change of president would mean for US trade policy. Vetter actually suggests there might not be much change in policy, but there may well be a better relationship with US allies and that Democratic candidate Joe Biden would take a wider lens to any negotiations.
At 3pm on 3 November, we will carry another webinar called Sustainability and Agri-food, the next decade.
Away from Brexit and international politics, there are other challenges facing Irish agriculture, as our 96-page 2020 Vision magazine explains this week. The magazine explores how our industry might look at the end of this decade and reflects on the change that has taken place over the past 10 years. We are delighted and thankful to have contributions from some of the best minds in the business included in the magazine.
It is an essential read for anyone interested in Irish agriculture at any level and a publication worth retaining to reflect on as we look back on this decade in time to come and shape policy into the future.
\ Jim Cogan
Mart trade: farmers should be compensated
The frustration and concern for some farmers and indeed those working in marts is evident in our coverage throughout this week’s edition of the impact the ongoing Level 5 restrictions are having. It is clear that there are very big issues for some individuals and some marts where broadband coverage is slim to nonexistent or where bidding technology is not well established.
In the main, cattle and sheep farmers get one opportunity a year to sell stock and this time of the year in particular is crucial to weanling sales for suckler farmers. Surely, where an individual farmer can prove loss of sale income, relative to industry averages, there is a case for compensation – the same way as beef finishers were compensated earlier in the year.
Our national data shows on average only slight deviations in price week-on-week. However, this national spread covers up the individual sales where animals were sold well below market value – in particular marts that experience technical difficulty on an ongoing basis.
There were no buyers present at Raphoe weanling sale on Tuesday.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has the information and data to back up decisions and must be prepared to give farmers support. He must move to reassure farmers there will be support to compensate for the real differences between marts in different parts of the country where there is evidence of clear market failure or reduced prices for stock before lockdown compared to during lockdown.
Women & Agriculture Award winners
In Irish Country Living this week, we have the Women & Agriculture Awards winners, runners-up and finalists. The 2020 awards, sponsored by FBD Insurance, were announced at a virtual ceremony last week.
First to be featured is winner of the Innovation on Farm category, Catherine O’Grady Powers of Glen Keen Farm, and runner-up Norma Dinneen of Bó Rua Farm. Catherine’s tourism business incorporates her sheep farm in Co Mayo.
Anne Marie Feighery of Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice won the Innovation in Agriculture & Food category. Mary Fogarty of the Cottage Loughmore was the runner-up.
Although the biennial awards were held virtually this year, the judges were able to pay each of the finalists a socially distanced visit in recent months when restrictions had eased.
Guest speaker at the awards was Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs. The awards ceremony can be watched back on www.ifj.ie/awards.
Farming for Nature and Milk Quality Awards
Elsewhere this week, we feature Farming for Nature winner Jim Cronin farming outside Killaloe, Co Clare.
We also feature the finalists in the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards in this week's edition.
Jim in horticulture and the dairy farmers profiled are leaders and ambassadors for the sectors they represent. We have to admire the hard work and dedication that all these farmers deliver in order to put food on tables at home and abroad.
Reading the reports, it is very clear all are striving to make changes as new science or understanding emerges. Congratulations to all.
Tillage: planting progress and winter barley
Following on from the very difficult autumn planting season last year, it is heartening to read Andy Doyle’s report on planting progress for winter cereals.
Cereal farmers are beholden to the weather for harvesting and planting. The soil they work with is their rich resource which they must protect year in, year out to get a return. Working and travelling on dry soils is the aim of all farmers.
Staying with cereals, it is interesting to note Matt Dempsey’s observation that if some EU countries can insist on plant protection products then why can’t we authorise protection for winter barley where no alternatives exist. Investing and not protecting doesn’t make great sense.
Irish farmers should very clearly be at the top of the queue when it comes to protecting incomes from any Brexit fallout.
This was the sentiment delivered by former Minister for Agriculture and current Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney in a webinar with the Irish Farmers Journal this week. The message from the minister was clear and concise and will provide some comfort for farmers as we approach 60 days from the start of the transition period. More importantly, there are less than two weeks to go before some sort of a deal needs to be reached.
On our webinar on Tuesday, Minister Coveney very clearly spelled out the EU and Irish moves already made and what more needs to be done.
He said farmers had a very real case to make for significant calls on the €5bn Brexit adjustment fund, the €3.4bn fund yet to be allocated in the recent budget and, importantly, a special fund to protect lost market share and value in the short term. This fund would be used to compensate and support food producers to keep product in UK supermarkets.
He very clearly suggested a policy of protecting current trade and value with the UK was by far the best policy. Minister Coveney is right – diversification of markets to far away countries is not the answer in the short term but of course is part of the long-term strategic vision of an exporting nation rather than putting all its eggs in one basket.
Brexit implications
The implications of a no-deal Brexit are clear: total Irish trade with the UK is in the order of €5.5bn and with WTO tariffs of €1.35bn, it would simply make that business unsustainable.
This commitment “to find ways of maintaining Irish market share on supermarket shelves” is an essential signal to give confidence to Irish farmers who are now feeding cattle in sheds. The market that these cattle will come on to in 2021 is very different from the present market.
Introducing intervention for beef that immediately reduces the value of the product should only be considered as a last resort. Alternative and additional funding mechanisms to support farmer incomes need careful consideration.
What Minister Coveney has identified is a path to giving farmers confidence to continue through these incredibly uncertain times and this must be the starting point for Government policy in managing the impact of Brexit on Irish agriculture.
This, along with COVID-19, may be the most immediate challenge facing Irish agriculture.
Farmers will take some positive vibes from what Minister Coveney said during the webinar – especially with his suggestion that there will be a Brexit deal reached. His suggestion that the silence means progress is ongoing or at the very least sensible negotiations are taking place is noteworthy.
US elections
Another interesting aspect of the webinar on Tuesday were thoughts shared on how a change of president in the United States might change America’s negotiating stance. Our guest Darci Vetter, who led the US negotiation on agriculture in the now suspended TTIP trade negotiation between the EU and the US, explained what a change of president would mean for US trade policy. Vetter actually suggests there might not be much change in policy, but there may well be a better relationship with US allies and that Democratic candidate Joe Biden would take a wider lens to any negotiations.
At 3pm on 3 November, we will carry another webinar called Sustainability and Agri-food, the next decade.
Away from Brexit and international politics, there are other challenges facing Irish agriculture, as our 96-page 2020 Vision magazine explains this week. The magazine explores how our industry might look at the end of this decade and reflects on the change that has taken place over the past 10 years. We are delighted and thankful to have contributions from some of the best minds in the business included in the magazine.
It is an essential read for anyone interested in Irish agriculture at any level and a publication worth retaining to reflect on as we look back on this decade in time to come and shape policy into the future.
\ Jim Cogan
Mart trade: farmers should be compensated
The frustration and concern for some farmers and indeed those working in marts is evident in our coverage throughout this week’s edition of the impact the ongoing Level 5 restrictions are having. It is clear that there are very big issues for some individuals and some marts where broadband coverage is slim to nonexistent or where bidding technology is not well established.
In the main, cattle and sheep farmers get one opportunity a year to sell stock and this time of the year in particular is crucial to weanling sales for suckler farmers. Surely, where an individual farmer can prove loss of sale income, relative to industry averages, there is a case for compensation – the same way as beef finishers were compensated earlier in the year.
Our national data shows on average only slight deviations in price week-on-week. However, this national spread covers up the individual sales where animals were sold well below market value – in particular marts that experience technical difficulty on an ongoing basis.
There were no buyers present at Raphoe weanling sale on Tuesday.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has the information and data to back up decisions and must be prepared to give farmers support. He must move to reassure farmers there will be support to compensate for the real differences between marts in different parts of the country where there is evidence of clear market failure or reduced prices for stock before lockdown compared to during lockdown.
Women & Agriculture Award winners
In Irish Country Living this week, we have the Women & Agriculture Awards winners, runners-up and finalists. The 2020 awards, sponsored by FBD Insurance, were announced at a virtual ceremony last week.
First to be featured is winner of the Innovation on Farm category, Catherine O’Grady Powers of Glen Keen Farm, and runner-up Norma Dinneen of Bó Rua Farm. Catherine’s tourism business incorporates her sheep farm in Co Mayo.
Anne Marie Feighery of Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice won the Innovation in Agriculture & Food category. Mary Fogarty of the Cottage Loughmore was the runner-up.
Although the biennial awards were held virtually this year, the judges were able to pay each of the finalists a socially distanced visit in recent months when restrictions had eased.
Guest speaker at the awards was Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs. The awards ceremony can be watched back on www.ifj.ie/awards.
Farming for Nature and Milk Quality Awards
Elsewhere this week, we feature Farming for Nature winner Jim Cronin farming outside Killaloe, Co Clare.
We also feature the finalists in the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards in this week's edition.
Jim in horticulture and the dairy farmers profiled are leaders and ambassadors for the sectors they represent. We have to admire the hard work and dedication that all these farmers deliver in order to put food on tables at home and abroad.
Reading the reports, it is very clear all are striving to make changes as new science or understanding emerges. Congratulations to all.
Tillage: planting progress and winter barley
Following on from the very difficult autumn planting season last year, it is heartening to read Andy Doyle’s report on planting progress for winter cereals.
Cereal farmers are beholden to the weather for harvesting and planting. The soil they work with is their rich resource which they must protect year in, year out to get a return. Working and travelling on dry soils is the aim of all farmers.
Staying with cereals, it is interesting to note Matt Dempsey’s observation that if some EU countries can insist on plant protection products then why can’t we authorise protection for winter barley where no alternatives exist. Investing and not protecting doesn’t make great sense.
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