Reacting to the publication of the EU draft regulation last week, IFA president Joe Healy said under no circumstances can one cent of the €100m fund go to anybody other than farmers.
The IFA has held six information meetings to date around the country and the clear message was that finishers of prime cattle and sucklers should be the priority.
“The €100m Brexit beef package has to be targeted to the farmers who need it most. It must take account of the farmers who incurred the beef price losses and the income situation,” he said.
Both European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan and Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed have to make good on their promise to get this money to farmers as quickly as possible.
The IFA has put forward six principles on the distribution of the fund and they are as follows:
It is for beef farmers and must be paid to beef farmers. It is not for factories, factory feedlots or factory-owned cattle, agents or dealers.It should be targeted to the farmers who incurred the losses and the sectors who need it most in terms of income.It should be targeted at farmers who sold prime finished cattle - steers, heifers, young bulls since last autumn, and suckler farmers.It should be paid out quickly and directly to farmers.Finished cattle sold in the marts must be included.DAFM has all the data on the AIM
system to enable accurate targeting of the funds. IFA national livestock chair Angus Woods said the farmers who sold prime finished cattle since last September and suckler producers are the two groups which were hit the hardest.
Strawberry Season
IFA soft fruit growers chair Jimmy Kearns has called on consumers and retailers to support the Irish strawberry sector - an industry worth €47m at farm gate, with 57 growers producing over 8,000t annually. Over 1,000 people are employed in the industry and the retail market is valued at €91m. This exceeds €100m when roadside sales are included.
Retail regulation
IFA president Joe Healy wants the Government to push ahead with an independent retail regulator to give effect to tougher food chain laws. He was responding to comments by the head of the CCPC Isolde Goggin, who said the Commission didn’t have the resources to do it. “That the CCPC is walking away from this won’t surprise farmers, who never had faith in the Commission to pursue retailers.”
Go-Vegan ads unregulated
IFA president Joe Healy said the refusal of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland to adjudicate on IFA’s complaint about adverts taken out by the Go Vegan movement means such adverts are completely unregulated. “It’s clear any sort of organisation can make claims without any oversight. There is an unacceptable gap, and the IFA will be taking it up with the relevant minister,” he said.
Reacting to the publication of the EU draft regulation last week, IFA president Joe Healy said under no circumstances can one cent of the €100m fund go to anybody other than farmers.
The IFA has held six information meetings to date around the country and the clear message was that finishers of prime cattle and sucklers should be the priority.
“The €100m Brexit beef package has to be targeted to the farmers who need it most. It must take account of the farmers who incurred the beef price losses and the income situation,” he said.
Both European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan and Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed have to make good on their promise to get this money to farmers as quickly as possible.
The IFA has put forward six principles on the distribution of the fund and they are as follows:
It is for beef farmers and must be paid to beef farmers. It is not for factories, factory feedlots or factory-owned cattle, agents or dealers.It should be targeted to the farmers who incurred the losses and the sectors who need it most in terms of income.It should be targeted at farmers who sold prime finished cattle - steers, heifers, young bulls since last autumn, and suckler farmers.It should be paid out quickly and directly to farmers.Finished cattle sold in the marts must be included.DAFM has all the data on the AIM
system to enable accurate targeting of the funds. IFA national livestock chair Angus Woods said the farmers who sold prime finished cattle since last September and suckler producers are the two groups which were hit the hardest.
Strawberry Season
IFA soft fruit growers chair Jimmy Kearns has called on consumers and retailers to support the Irish strawberry sector - an industry worth €47m at farm gate, with 57 growers producing over 8,000t annually. Over 1,000 people are employed in the industry and the retail market is valued at €91m. This exceeds €100m when roadside sales are included.
Retail regulation
IFA president Joe Healy wants the Government to push ahead with an independent retail regulator to give effect to tougher food chain laws. He was responding to comments by the head of the CCPC Isolde Goggin, who said the Commission didn’t have the resources to do it. “That the CCPC is walking away from this won’t surprise farmers, who never had faith in the Commission to pursue retailers.”
Go-Vegan ads unregulated
IFA president Joe Healy said the refusal of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland to adjudicate on IFA’s complaint about adverts taken out by the Go Vegan movement means such adverts are completely unregulated. “It’s clear any sort of organisation can make claims without any oversight. There is an unacceptable gap, and the IFA will be taking it up with the relevant minister,” he said.
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