DEAR EDITOR

While reading Matt Dempsey’s article in last week’s Irish Farmers Journal, it came to my mind how farming has changed since I started farming in the early 1970s.

At the time we were very dependent on the weather and the four gallon cow to make a living from farming. Now we are dependent on the computer and what happens in Europe.

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At present, the European Parliament is going to rule on the new Mercosur deal that will affect farmers and their families all over Europe for the foreseeable future.

To my mind, the Mercosur deal would not benefit farmers all over Europe because the standards involved in producing food for the consumers in the countries involved in gaining access to the European market in the deal are not as strict as they are here in Europe.

I think that if you are reporting at the end of April with a heading “Europe says no”, it would be more beneficial to the people of Ireland and Europe if the deal is turned down at the European Parliament in April.

At the end of the day, our health mainly depends on the food we eat and how it is produced.

So with that in mind, I think that the answer in April at the European Parliament should be no.