Connacht IFA chair Padraic Joyce declared his intention to run for deputy president of the IFA at a Mayo IFA county executive on Wednesday night.
He is one of three candidates in the running, the other two being Kildare’s Brian Rushe and Cavan’s Thomas Cooney.
Candidates need their own county to nominate them, plus five other counties in order to get on the ballot paper.
I’m told there was a lot of schmoozing last week ahead of the December IFA elections, at the annual IFA county chair gathering which took place on the continent.
There are three names in the hat so far for the role of head bottlewasher of the IFA – Tipperary’s Tim Cullinan, the current IFA treasurer, Wicklow’s Angus Woods, the sitting livestock chair, and current Munster regional chair, John Coughlan.
Glanbia to pull plug on NDC
The National Dairy Council’s funding seems to be on shaky ground, with its main farming backer, Glanbia, potentially looking to pull out as political tensions escalate.
The farmer-levied organisation receives money from all the co-ops bar Dairygold and Lakeland.
I hear that Dairygold made an offer of a fixed sum contribution.
However, this is apparently a fraction of what the co-op’s contribution would be if all its farmers were levied. Altogether that would be something in the region of €1m.
Old LacPatrick suppliers continue to pay the levy but it remains to be seen whether Lakeland suppliers will come on board.
Glanbia would be of the thinking that it should carry more weight around the board table given the proportion of funding it contributes.
I hear the Glanbia board will discuss this at its next meeting.
The NDC levy, which is worth 0.007c/l, totalled €3.2m in 2017, with Glanbia farmers contributing the largest slice.
If the full 7.4bn-litre Irish milk pool was levied, the income would be €5.18m.
Rules issues in Dairygold
I hear a co-op rules review is taking place in Dairygold and the makeup of the rules review committee has led to differences of opinion among members.
A proposal from the board was that this committee should include four board members as well as the chair and secretary. This met some opposition at general and regional committee level. Members of these committees proposed sticking with the makeup of the previous rules review committee of a decade ago. This consisted of two members of each of the six regions plus the secretary. The proposal went to a vote at general committee level and lost in a tight-run affair. The rules review committee will now revert to the old system.
Forde takes the helm of Guild
Amy Forde, of this parish, was elected as chair of the southern section of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists at its AGM last week in Hillsborough, Co Down. She takes over from Irish Country Living’s Ciara Leahy and will be in the role for the next two years. Forde’s term will cover the guild’s 60th anniversary. Maria Daly of Alltech will take on the role of secretary, with Elaine Crosse of Bord Bia staying on for another term as treasurer.
Amy Forde and Ciara Leahy at the 2019 AGM of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists.
FBD aims to woo IFA members
I’m sure I am not the only one to notice the increased competition in the market for farm insurance. FBD, AXA and Zurich are all now operating in that space and quotes have been keenly contested.
I see FBD, who have a long-standing relationship with the IFA, have upped the ante, having increased its offer to the association’s members. It is offering those farmers an improved saving of €85 on car, home and farm insurance.
Lack of ladies for milk agency
No women were found last year to take a seat on the National Milk Agency (NMA). The agency’s annual report said that the nominating bodies were “unable to nominate any women for consideration for appointment to the board”.
The agency is to consider how this matter can be addressed for the future. They might be waiting a while though – the next election for producer members will be in three years’ time.
FBD pulls greyhound sponsorship
I see FBD Insurance has pulled its sponsorship of greyhound racing.
Its withdrawal comes after a Prime Time investigates programme on the industry which highlighted major issues.
Previously, FBD had provided a small amount of sponsorship to Kilkenny greyhound track.
I see George Lee has a new job in RTÉ. In June it was announced that Fran McNulty got the agriculture and consumer affairs job, leaving questions about where George would go. Well, wonder no more. Lee has been appointed as RTÉ’s environment and science correspondent.
Connacht IFA chair Padraic Joyce declared his intention to run for deputy president of the IFA at a Mayo IFA county executive on Wednesday night.
He is one of three candidates in the running, the other two being Kildare’s Brian Rushe and Cavan’s Thomas Cooney.
Candidates need their own county to nominate them, plus five other counties in order to get on the ballot paper.
I’m told there was a lot of schmoozing last week ahead of the December IFA elections, at the annual IFA county chair gathering which took place on the continent.
There are three names in the hat so far for the role of head bottlewasher of the IFA – Tipperary’s Tim Cullinan, the current IFA treasurer, Wicklow’s Angus Woods, the sitting livestock chair, and current Munster regional chair, John Coughlan.
Glanbia to pull plug on NDC
The National Dairy Council’s funding seems to be on shaky ground, with its main farming backer, Glanbia, potentially looking to pull out as political tensions escalate.
The farmer-levied organisation receives money from all the co-ops bar Dairygold and Lakeland.
I hear that Dairygold made an offer of a fixed sum contribution.
However, this is apparently a fraction of what the co-op’s contribution would be if all its farmers were levied. Altogether that would be something in the region of €1m.
Old LacPatrick suppliers continue to pay the levy but it remains to be seen whether Lakeland suppliers will come on board.
Glanbia would be of the thinking that it should carry more weight around the board table given the proportion of funding it contributes.
I hear the Glanbia board will discuss this at its next meeting.
The NDC levy, which is worth 0.007c/l, totalled €3.2m in 2017, with Glanbia farmers contributing the largest slice.
If the full 7.4bn-litre Irish milk pool was levied, the income would be €5.18m.
Rules issues in Dairygold
I hear a co-op rules review is taking place in Dairygold and the makeup of the rules review committee has led to differences of opinion among members.
A proposal from the board was that this committee should include four board members as well as the chair and secretary. This met some opposition at general and regional committee level. Members of these committees proposed sticking with the makeup of the previous rules review committee of a decade ago. This consisted of two members of each of the six regions plus the secretary. The proposal went to a vote at general committee level and lost in a tight-run affair. The rules review committee will now revert to the old system.
Forde takes the helm of Guild
Amy Forde, of this parish, was elected as chair of the southern section of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists at its AGM last week in Hillsborough, Co Down. She takes over from Irish Country Living’s Ciara Leahy and will be in the role for the next two years. Forde’s term will cover the guild’s 60th anniversary. Maria Daly of Alltech will take on the role of secretary, with Elaine Crosse of Bord Bia staying on for another term as treasurer.
Amy Forde and Ciara Leahy at the 2019 AGM of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists.
FBD aims to woo IFA members
I’m sure I am not the only one to notice the increased competition in the market for farm insurance. FBD, AXA and Zurich are all now operating in that space and quotes have been keenly contested.
I see FBD, who have a long-standing relationship with the IFA, have upped the ante, having increased its offer to the association’s members. It is offering those farmers an improved saving of €85 on car, home and farm insurance.
Lack of ladies for milk agency
No women were found last year to take a seat on the National Milk Agency (NMA). The agency’s annual report said that the nominating bodies were “unable to nominate any women for consideration for appointment to the board”.
The agency is to consider how this matter can be addressed for the future. They might be waiting a while though – the next election for producer members will be in three years’ time.
FBD pulls greyhound sponsorship
I see FBD Insurance has pulled its sponsorship of greyhound racing.
Its withdrawal comes after a Prime Time investigates programme on the industry which highlighted major issues.
Previously, FBD had provided a small amount of sponsorship to Kilkenny greyhound track.
I see George Lee has a new job in RTÉ. In June it was announced that Fran McNulty got the agriculture and consumer affairs job, leaving questions about where George would go. Well, wonder no more. Lee has been appointed as RTÉ’s environment and science correspondent.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: