A is for action on climate targets. The Department of Agriculture revealed its new roadmap for agriculture and climate change, ‘Ag Climatise’, targeting ambitious cuts in methane, ammonia and nitrogen use on Irish farms over the coming decade. The roadmap sets out a total of 29 actions to be adopted over the coming years, which is hoped will help agriculture achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
B is for Brexit, which remains unfinished. The UK is set to leave the EU on 1 January, although negotiations continue at the time of writing, with fishing rights a sticking point. The EU has said it will not have time at this point to ratify a new deal before the New Year, so a no deal exit looks set to take place, with aims for agreement to follow soon after.
C is for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which looks set to be introduced during late 2022 at the earliest. Temporary rules will bridge the gap between the old and new programmes, coming into effect on 1 January. Farm payments will operate under an ‘old rules, new money’ principle in the meantime.
D is for designations. There are growing fears that EU proposals could see the ‘mother of all designations’ impose severe restrictions on how thousands of farmers manage their land. The EU wants 30% of all land in Europe to be designated for biodiversity and 10% of land should be strictly protected.
E is for extra TB testing. Twenty thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
Twenty thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm. \Philip Doyle
F is for the flight that 900 Irish calves will be taking in spring 2021. Teagasc looks set to fly the unweaned calves to Ostend, Belgium, in March. It will be the first charter flight trial of its kind for Irish livestock.
G is for our new Government, a coalition between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Government said maintaining the CAP budget was the top priority in their negotiations and in July, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed this priority aim had been achieved. Irish farmers will receive €10.73bn over the next seven years, compared with €10.68bn in the years 2014 to 2020.
H is for Hogan. Former European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan resigned from his role as Commissioner for Trade in August. The Irish Government had called for the EU political giant to consider his position in the wake of his attendance at the fateful Oireachtas Golf Society dinner, which also led to Dara Calleary’s resignation as Minister for Agriculture.
I is for the Irish Farmers Journal which now has 295,900 weekly readers on the island of Ireland. This is the highest readership figure reported by the newspaper in the past 20 years. The paper's journalists also had a good year, with Lorcan Allen named the 2020 Business Journalist of the Year, as well as sharing the Agri Guilds coveted Bull prize with colleague Hannah Quinn Mulligan.
J is for job loss in the sector. The agri-food workforce fell by 8,600 during 2019. Currently, 164,400 people work in the sector, accounting for 7.1% of total employment. The average number employed in primary agriculture, forestry and fishing dropped by 6,400.
K is for knackeries, who closed their gates to farmers as their dispute with the Department of Agriculture came to a head in February. The row came as a result of an amended Fallen Animal Scheme, which imposed maximum collection fees. Knackeries claimed the move would make them financially unviable, but reopened soon after, following an emergency meeting with the Department.
L is for the ongoing logjam in the forestry sector. There are approximately 4,700 forest licence applications currently in the Department of Agriculture’s system. Of these, 2,000 have been referred to ecologists. Coillte reports that 84% of its timber remains unlicensed for 2021.
M is for multiple Ministers for Agriculture during 2020. Michael Creed concluded his four year tenure in May and was succeeded by Offaly TD Barry Cowen. Taoiseach Micheál Martin became acting Minister following the removal of Cowen in July, due to a controversy surrounding a drink driving conviction. Dara Calleary was next up to the plate, serving just over a month in office before he resigned following his breach of Government COVID-19 guidelines. Fifth Minister for Agriculture of the year is our current Minister, Donegal’s Charlie McConalogue.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue. \Philip Doyle
N is for nitrogen, and the new targets to cut its use on Irish farms by 20% by 2030. The ambition came to light during the unveiling of the Department's new 'Ag Climatise' roadmap, which aims for nitrogen use to fall to just 325,000t per annum by 2030.
O is for online marts. Mart managers told the Irish Farmers Journal that their businesses have been revolutionized in the past 12 months, with huge advances on the IT front. Almost every mart across the country is now online, offering bidders the option to trade on occasions that were not previously feasible for them. Although marts provide a great social outlet, online trade has been one of the greatest adaptations to have taken place during 2020.
P is for payments amounting to €630m, which are safe for 2021. Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has secured funding for schemes such as GLAS, the BDGP, ANC, Sheep Welfare and TAMS, after receiving the greenlight from the European Commission.
Q is for quotas proposed on dairy cow numbers. Dairy farmers were alarmed at stocking rates imposed by Teagasc on a new flagship network of farms. The 100-plus farms expected to be enrolled in the Teagasc Signpost Programme will have a maximum stocking rate of 3.25 cows/ha on the grazing platform.
R is for retirement scheme. Brussels opened the door for Ireland to launch a new farm retirement scheme in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Such a scheme could see farmers receive a ‘lump sum payment’, the director general of agriculture at the European Commission, Wolfgang Burtscher, said.
S is for sales at marts in 2020, which saw a drop of over 240,000 head of cattle. A total of 1,429,970 cattle were sold in marts across the country this year, down 14.3%. On the other hand, farm to farm movement grew by 223,141 head of cattle.
T is for Trump and the end of his tenure as the president of the US. He will be succeeded by president-elect Joe Biden, who takes pride in his Irish roots. Biden’s great-grandfather, James Finnegan, emigrated from Co Louth as a child in 1850.
U is for the unprecedented number of cancellations to agricultural shows and other big dates in the farming calendar. Look to the bright side though, the National Ploughing Championships and Balmoral Show are both set to return in September 2021.
V is for virus, the pandemic we are still living with today. In February 2020, the first case of coronavirus was identified in Ireland. Numbers have fluctuated ever since, with the population adhering to the Government rolling lockdowns. Faced with a third lockdown, farmers have remained resilient, and stand poised to maintain the food supply chain in 2021.
W is for wanted, the slurry from 400,000 cows and 120,000ac of silage. The call came as part of project ‘clover’ which will see the development of 125 anaerobic digestion plants that will produce biomethane to displace natural gas and create biofertiliser to displace their chemical counterparts.
Social distancing became a part of day to day life this year in effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. \Philip Doyle
X marked the spot in 2020. Social distancing became a part of day-to-day life this year, in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. Marts, veterinary practices, retailers and many more marked the spot in their premises, giving everyone safe during a time when we have to be apart.
Y is for young farmer of the year. Galway man Dara Killeen was crowned Macra na Feirme/FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2020. A new entrant to dairying in 2018, Dara has transformed the farm from a sheep farm to a 150-cow focus farm.
Z is for zapping the virus in 2021. COVID-19 arrived on Irish shores on 29 February 2020 and the Irish population has been battling it ever since. With vaccines on the horizon, here’s hoping we will see normality return to farming in 2021.
Read more
Weekly podcast: Minister warns GLAS farmers won’t get into REPS
Lockdown latest: how marts will operate
Could French COVID-19 trade ban alter Brexit course?
A is for action on climate targets. The Department of Agriculture revealed its new roadmap for agriculture and climate change, ‘Ag Climatise’, targeting ambitious cuts in methane, ammonia and nitrogen use on Irish farms over the coming decade. The roadmap sets out a total of 29 actions to be adopted over the coming years, which is hoped will help agriculture achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
B is for Brexit, which remains unfinished. The UK is set to leave the EU on 1 January, although negotiations continue at the time of writing, with fishing rights a sticking point. The EU has said it will not have time at this point to ratify a new deal before the New Year, so a no deal exit looks set to take place, with aims for agreement to follow soon after.
C is for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which looks set to be introduced during late 2022 at the earliest. Temporary rules will bridge the gap between the old and new programmes, coming into effect on 1 January. Farm payments will operate under an ‘old rules, new money’ principle in the meantime.
D is for designations. There are growing fears that EU proposals could see the ‘mother of all designations’ impose severe restrictions on how thousands of farmers manage their land. The EU wants 30% of all land in Europe to be designated for biodiversity and 10% of land should be strictly protected.
E is for extra TB testing. Twenty thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
Twenty thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm. \Philip Doyle
F is for the flight that 900 Irish calves will be taking in spring 2021. Teagasc looks set to fly the unweaned calves to Ostend, Belgium, in March. It will be the first charter flight trial of its kind for Irish livestock.
G is for our new Government, a coalition between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Government said maintaining the CAP budget was the top priority in their negotiations and in July, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed this priority aim had been achieved. Irish farmers will receive €10.73bn over the next seven years, compared with €10.68bn in the years 2014 to 2020.
H is for Hogan. Former European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan resigned from his role as Commissioner for Trade in August. The Irish Government had called for the EU political giant to consider his position in the wake of his attendance at the fateful Oireachtas Golf Society dinner, which also led to Dara Calleary’s resignation as Minister for Agriculture.
I is for the Irish Farmers Journal which now has 295,900 weekly readers on the island of Ireland. This is the highest readership figure reported by the newspaper in the past 20 years. The paper's journalists also had a good year, with Lorcan Allen named the 2020 Business Journalist of the Year, as well as sharing the Agri Guilds coveted Bull prize with colleague Hannah Quinn Mulligan.
J is for job loss in the sector. The agri-food workforce fell by 8,600 during 2019. Currently, 164,400 people work in the sector, accounting for 7.1% of total employment. The average number employed in primary agriculture, forestry and fishing dropped by 6,400.
K is for knackeries, who closed their gates to farmers as their dispute with the Department of Agriculture came to a head in February. The row came as a result of an amended Fallen Animal Scheme, which imposed maximum collection fees. Knackeries claimed the move would make them financially unviable, but reopened soon after, following an emergency meeting with the Department.
L is for the ongoing logjam in the forestry sector. There are approximately 4,700 forest licence applications currently in the Department of Agriculture’s system. Of these, 2,000 have been referred to ecologists. Coillte reports that 84% of its timber remains unlicensed for 2021.
M is for multiple Ministers for Agriculture during 2020. Michael Creed concluded his four year tenure in May and was succeeded by Offaly TD Barry Cowen. Taoiseach Micheál Martin became acting Minister following the removal of Cowen in July, due to a controversy surrounding a drink driving conviction. Dara Calleary was next up to the plate, serving just over a month in office before he resigned following his breach of Government COVID-19 guidelines. Fifth Minister for Agriculture of the year is our current Minister, Donegal’s Charlie McConalogue.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue. \Philip Doyle
N is for nitrogen, and the new targets to cut its use on Irish farms by 20% by 2030. The ambition came to light during the unveiling of the Department's new 'Ag Climatise' roadmap, which aims for nitrogen use to fall to just 325,000t per annum by 2030.
O is for online marts. Mart managers told the Irish Farmers Journal that their businesses have been revolutionized in the past 12 months, with huge advances on the IT front. Almost every mart across the country is now online, offering bidders the option to trade on occasions that were not previously feasible for them. Although marts provide a great social outlet, online trade has been one of the greatest adaptations to have taken place during 2020.
P is for payments amounting to €630m, which are safe for 2021. Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has secured funding for schemes such as GLAS, the BDGP, ANC, Sheep Welfare and TAMS, after receiving the greenlight from the European Commission.
Q is for quotas proposed on dairy cow numbers. Dairy farmers were alarmed at stocking rates imposed by Teagasc on a new flagship network of farms. The 100-plus farms expected to be enrolled in the Teagasc Signpost Programme will have a maximum stocking rate of 3.25 cows/ha on the grazing platform.
R is for retirement scheme. Brussels opened the door for Ireland to launch a new farm retirement scheme in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Such a scheme could see farmers receive a ‘lump sum payment’, the director general of agriculture at the European Commission, Wolfgang Burtscher, said.
S is for sales at marts in 2020, which saw a drop of over 240,000 head of cattle. A total of 1,429,970 cattle were sold in marts across the country this year, down 14.3%. On the other hand, farm to farm movement grew by 223,141 head of cattle.
T is for Trump and the end of his tenure as the president of the US. He will be succeeded by president-elect Joe Biden, who takes pride in his Irish roots. Biden’s great-grandfather, James Finnegan, emigrated from Co Louth as a child in 1850.
U is for the unprecedented number of cancellations to agricultural shows and other big dates in the farming calendar. Look to the bright side though, the National Ploughing Championships and Balmoral Show are both set to return in September 2021.
V is for virus, the pandemic we are still living with today. In February 2020, the first case of coronavirus was identified in Ireland. Numbers have fluctuated ever since, with the population adhering to the Government rolling lockdowns. Faced with a third lockdown, farmers have remained resilient, and stand poised to maintain the food supply chain in 2021.
W is for wanted, the slurry from 400,000 cows and 120,000ac of silage. The call came as part of project ‘clover’ which will see the development of 125 anaerobic digestion plants that will produce biomethane to displace natural gas and create biofertiliser to displace their chemical counterparts.
Social distancing became a part of day to day life this year in effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. \Philip Doyle
X marked the spot in 2020. Social distancing became a part of day-to-day life this year, in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. Marts, veterinary practices, retailers and many more marked the spot in their premises, giving everyone safe during a time when we have to be apart.
Y is for young farmer of the year. Galway man Dara Killeen was crowned Macra na Feirme/FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2020. A new entrant to dairying in 2018, Dara has transformed the farm from a sheep farm to a 150-cow focus farm.
Z is for zapping the virus in 2021. COVID-19 arrived on Irish shores on 29 February 2020 and the Irish population has been battling it ever since. With vaccines on the horizon, here’s hoping we will see normality return to farming in 2021.
Read more
Weekly podcast: Minister warns GLAS farmers won’t get into REPS
Lockdown latest: how marts will operate
Could French COVID-19 trade ban alter Brexit course?
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