Last Sunday, 25 young farmers between the age of eight and 25 competed in the final of the All Ireland Young Stockperson competition at Ballinrobe show in Co Mayo.
Supported by FBD Insurance, the Irish Shows Association and ourselves in the Irish Farmers Journal, the competition is now in its fifth year.
There is a tough qualification process at local shows to get to the final and this dedication was evident on Sunday as many had to get up in the middle of the night to get to Mayo.
Some might classify participation in showing as “not real farming” but it’s so much more than that.
These very young farmers, encouraged by their families and friends, grow a love for stock which stays with them for life. There were lots of tears, smiles, hugs and handshakes demonstrating the emotion and passion involved.
We congratulate all the winners on reaching the final and in particular to the three winners, Gemma and Zoe Salter from Cork and Aoife Hannon from Limerick.
TB clouds not cleared yet
There was an expectation that the announcement of new TB rules by the Department would bring TB compensation levels in line with current value of stock.
There was also an expectation that we would get visibility of the detail around the investment in new measures. The clarity and detail fell short at Tuesday’s Department announcement.
Like most things, the devil is in the detail and unless you see the full package, it’s hard to make reasonable or fair comment.
Contrast
In complete contrast, I was shown a detailed message from a beef farmer this week which highlighted the complete inadequacy of the maximum upper compensation limit of €3,000 per animal.
Unfortunately, this particular farmer lost 14 bullocks to TB this week that were valued at €3,700 by the Department, but will now only make €3,000 each. He’s down almost €10,000 straight away.
The same farmer has more bullocks to be blood tested this week. The loss of income is very significant. The mental anguish, profit loss and business disruption for farmers is bad enough without losing even further financially.
Never before have we had more information on stock values available in real time. If we don’t have farmers onside, no amount new rules will fix TB.
Last Sunday, 25 young farmers between the age of eight and 25 competed in the final of the All Ireland Young Stockperson competition at Ballinrobe show in Co Mayo.
Supported by FBD Insurance, the Irish Shows Association and ourselves in the Irish Farmers Journal, the competition is now in its fifth year.
There is a tough qualification process at local shows to get to the final and this dedication was evident on Sunday as many had to get up in the middle of the night to get to Mayo.
Some might classify participation in showing as “not real farming” but it’s so much more than that.
These very young farmers, encouraged by their families and friends, grow a love for stock which stays with them for life. There were lots of tears, smiles, hugs and handshakes demonstrating the emotion and passion involved.
We congratulate all the winners on reaching the final and in particular to the three winners, Gemma and Zoe Salter from Cork and Aoife Hannon from Limerick.
TB clouds not cleared yet
There was an expectation that the announcement of new TB rules by the Department would bring TB compensation levels in line with current value of stock.
There was also an expectation that we would get visibility of the detail around the investment in new measures. The clarity and detail fell short at Tuesday’s Department announcement.
Like most things, the devil is in the detail and unless you see the full package, it’s hard to make reasonable or fair comment.
Contrast
In complete contrast, I was shown a detailed message from a beef farmer this week which highlighted the complete inadequacy of the maximum upper compensation limit of €3,000 per animal.
Unfortunately, this particular farmer lost 14 bullocks to TB this week that were valued at €3,700 by the Department, but will now only make €3,000 each. He’s down almost €10,000 straight away.
The same farmer has more bullocks to be blood tested this week. The loss of income is very significant. The mental anguish, profit loss and business disruption for farmers is bad enough without losing even further financially.
Never before have we had more information on stock values available in real time. If we don’t have farmers onside, no amount new rules will fix TB.
SHARING OPTIONS