Several members of the IFA national council had to resort to dialling-in by phone to the organisation's first video conference of the full council on Wednesday.
IFA president Tim Cullinan noted that while most of the council joined the meeting by video link, several members had to resort to dialling-in by phone due to inadequate broadband coverage.
"The COVID-19 emergency has once again highlighted the urgent need for high-quality, affordable broadband to be rolled out across rural Ireland," he said.
Remote meetings
The IFA has been holding regular remote meetings of the national officers committee, county chairs by region and of national committee chairs.
However, Wednesday was the first full formal meeting of IFA's 59-member national council under the COVID-19 restrictions.
The lobbying of politicians in the context of the Government formation talks, Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies and Bord Bia’s grass-fed standard were all discussed at the meeting.
“Farmers have many concerns regarding the detailed aspects of these proposals. There will have to be full consultation with [the] IFA,” Cullinan said.
He added that council members were very clear that the scale of recent milk price cuts was not justified.
“International markets are recovering and the council [was] adamant that there could be no further reductions,” he said.
Read more
No cartel in the beef industry - competition watchdog
Over 200 farmers hit with 90% BPS penalty
Coronavirus lockdown: what's changing on Monday for farmers
Several members of the IFA national council had to resort to dialling-in by phone to the organisation's first video conference of the full council on Wednesday.
IFA president Tim Cullinan noted that while most of the council joined the meeting by video link, several members had to resort to dialling-in by phone due to inadequate broadband coverage.
"The COVID-19 emergency has once again highlighted the urgent need for high-quality, affordable broadband to be rolled out across rural Ireland," he said.
Remote meetings
The IFA has been holding regular remote meetings of the national officers committee, county chairs by region and of national committee chairs.
However, Wednesday was the first full formal meeting of IFA's 59-member national council under the COVID-19 restrictions.
The lobbying of politicians in the context of the Government formation talks, Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies and Bord Bia’s grass-fed standard were all discussed at the meeting.
“Farmers have many concerns regarding the detailed aspects of these proposals. There will have to be full consultation with [the] IFA,” Cullinan said.
He added that council members were very clear that the scale of recent milk price cuts was not justified.
“International markets are recovering and the council [was] adamant that there could be no further reductions,” he said.
Read more
No cartel in the beef industry - competition watchdog
Over 200 farmers hit with 90% BPS penalty
Coronavirus lockdown: what's changing on Monday for farmers
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