The earnings of senior executives in farmer-controlled bodies inevitably pose dilemmas. But I sincerely hope that the controversy and wildly excessive prominence given to the salaries in Ornua, formerly the Irish Dairy Board/Bord Bainne does not blow the organisation off course.

Since retiring as editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, I have been asked to participate in a number of boards, together with their audit, risk and remuneration committees. By far the biggest risk for any firm is that the organisation is unable to attract good people to run it well on a day-to-day basis and to develop it for future growth.

I am of a generation that remembers the sad outcome of the huge farmer investment in Cork Marts/IMP. This was one of the largest meat-exporting companies in the world and it was bought by farmers in the very early 70s. It had been built by remarkable entrepreneurs and it employed people that were to go on and become key figures in the Irish meat industry. But mistakes – catastrophic mistakes – regarding personnel and commercial decisions were made and the enterprise failed.

So what was learned from that awful debacle? By the looks of it, not a lot, at least not in relation to Ornua. If we expect Ornua to be the marketing and product development arm of the bulk of the Irish dairy industry, then its executives are part of the international food business. It was different when, before EEC days, the firm had a statutory monopoly on dairy exports from the country but that is over 40 years ago. Ornua operates in a tough world with lots of companies and people trying to take its markets and undermine its effectiveness.

We may, as farmers, consider food industry executives wildly overpaid, but we can only change so much of the world.

Certainly, we can retreat within our farm gates as we have done in the meat industry and hand over our produce to private enterprise or we can decide that we are stronger together. Which is the more valid strategy?

The worst world of all is to go outside the farm gate and then only pay for mediocre yes-men or that we will only allow mediocre yes-men to assume board positions.

If so, our companies will quickly reflect that decision. I don’t see how we can prosper by insisting, through our actions, on mediocrity.