INHFA gets a seat at Department table

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmer Association (INHFA) has come of age, I see. Last week at the association’s AGM, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed extended not one, not two, but three invitations to the association. He invited INHFA to sit on the Farmers Charter of Rights committee, the direct payments committee and the Department’s CAP Rural Development Programme monitoring committee. With the lines beginning to be drawn on the CAP battlefield, farmers will have a new voice at the table, whatever the outcome.

IFA staff changes

The IFA has announced some changes in staff responsibilities. Fintan Conway will become secretary to the renewables project team. He will retain responsibility for the inputs project team. Pat Farrell, currently the executive secretary to the potato and horticulture committees, will assume responsibility for the grain committee.

They like strong sunshine and are inactive at night. It’s the female that bites – the male is harmless and friendly.

LacPatrick meeting shareholders

I see that LacPatrick Dairies embarked on a series of handshaking and informing sessions with its suppliers this week. The co-op, led by its board members and chair Andrew McConkey, rolled out a series of shareholder meetings across its supply base in the Republic and Northern Ireland. The Dealer understands the meetings were organised to let suppliers voice concerns or raise issues ahead of any formal bids for the Co Monaghan-based co-op in the coming weeks. The Dealer also notes that most senior management did not attend the meetings, with the board continuing to run the partnership/merger process.

Corbally unseated by circumstance

Henry Corbally’s removal as chair by his fellow Glanbia co-op board members raised eyebrows, but it’s less a statement about Corbally’s tenure than Keane’s ambition and the perpetual politics on any co-op board. Some have remarked that it follows in the tradition of Meathmen in national farming positions being unseated. That’s a little unkind – chalk this one down to the age rather than geography.

Glanbia board members must step down on reaching 65. While Corbally is 63, Keane is only a year younger. The only way he was likely to become chair was by opposing Corbally’s re-election – he couldn’t afford to wait for Henry’s term to end. The market has not been upset by this sudden and unsignalled decision. The share price has inclined upwards days since Keane’s election and is, at the time of writing, €16.19, up about 5% up since 1 June.

Essential reading

European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan was speaking at the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee on Monday last about his CAP proposals. In the later exchanges, DUP MEP Diane Dodds referred to the Irish Farmers Journal as being “required reading” for any Irish Agriculture Commissioner. To which the Commissioner replied that the Irish Farmers Journal is “required reading for any MEP on the island of Ireland”. I’ll take that.

Get set for mean and hungry horseflies as big as small rats

The first horsefly bites of the summer 2018 have been reported. The silent scourge of hay-makers, turf-makers, shed erectors and outdoor love-makers appeared earlier than normal this June, pumped up on the strong sunshine. Farmers in the midlands report that these first clegs were small and easy to spot. By next week it’ll be a different story – they’ll be meaner, hungrier, as big as small rats, landing on unprotected necks and arms.

When you see someone jump and wave their arms violently, you know it’s too late. By mid-July, they’ll be gone. But the itchy lumps will linger on. Exactly how big and how itchy depends on who or what the horsefly bit last. They’re a great discomfort for cattle, too. Horseflies are members of the Tabanidae family. They like strong sunshine and are inactive at night. It’s the female that bites – the male is harmless and friendly.

High earners

The Dealer learnt with some surprise last week that Slovakia has the highest percentage of farmers in Europe receiving a basic payment of over €60,000.

Some 9% of farmers over there get over €60,000 a year, which is due to “historical reasons”. Of course all that will change in the next CAP, but if The Dealer had known a little sooner he might have made a few different life choices. Apparently Slovakia is lovely this time of year, with a basic payment to match.

The case of the disappearing trailer

The Dealer heard that a trailer went missing from the yard at Skibbereen Mart over the weekend. It turns out a person who had been told to borrow a trailer to bring stock home had mistakenly borrowed the wrong one. Folks jumped to the conclusion that it had been stolen, but the trailer turned up in the end. No harm done.