Beef protest

IFA president Eddie Downey has expressed his thanks to all members who participated in the 48-hour beef protest earlier this week. The protest sent a strong message that farmers will not accept the price gap between Irish and British prices and will not stand for meat factories’ refusal to pass market returns back to beef producers.

Smart Farming

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Smart Farming is an IFA-led initiative to help reduce farm bills and maximise output. Last week, a Smart Farming seminar in Portlaoise focused on saving money on feed, fertilizer and energy bills. Farmers also spoke of how they had saved thousands of euro from farm costs through the Smart Farming initiative.

Finance Bill

IFA has held a number of meetings on the Finance Bill over the last week. IFA delegations met the Department of Finance, as well as government and opposition TDs, to make the case for proposed amendments, in particular to the definition of an active farmer for the purposes of tax relief. Keep updated at www.ifa.ie.

Hill farming meeting

At last week’s Hill Committee meeting, it was pointed out by IFA chair Pat Dunne that opening up the GLAS scheme and getting early payment in 2015 is the priority for hill farmers throughout the country. Flexibilities are demanded by the committee from Minister Coveney in the new stocking rules for SFP and GLAS in hill areas.

Member benefits

The IFA negotiates with some of Ireland’s top brands to deliver genuine savings for members to help reduce both farm business and home costs. IFA Member Services offers telecom, mobile and power products. Members can also avail of a range of exclusive discounts on insurance, motor, travel and more. See www.ifa.ie.