Save Irish Farming – A Message from the IFA President

IFA Regional Rallies to Save Irish Farming

Location	Meeting Point	Time	Contact Phone No.
Cavan	Meadow View Inn, Dublin Road, Tirquin, H12 W142	7.00am	074 9145658
Roscommon	Dr Hyde Park, Arsallagh Beg, F42 AP82	11.00am	090 6625235
Portlaoise	Motor Tax Office, Portlaoise, R32 NN2P	4.00pm	056 7763404
Cork	Emmet Place, Cork Opera House, T12 DW6P	8.00pm	021 4545944

In the weeks and months ahead, Irish farming faces one of its biggest challenges. The recently-passed Climate Action Bill means Ireland has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51%. This leaves the Government with one of the biggest policy challenges in the history of the State.

They selected this target without any consideration of the consequences for the economy, or for Irish farming.

Shortly, the Government will publish carbon budgets, and Sectoral Emissions Ceilings. This will include a legally-binding emissions ceiling for Irish agriculture.  

Because of this, every policy pursued by the Government is now designed to reduce output and hit our most productive farmers. This will have huge consequences for Irish farming. Already, the Government is talking about having a ‘stable national herd’. 

There is no such thing as a ‘national herd’. We have over 100,000 cattle herds in this country, with an average of fewer than 70 animals. These cattle are owned by farmers, not the State. The livelihoods of thousands of farmers and their families depend on these herds. We cannot place a new quota on these farmers.

IIn the coming weeks, our Minister will also finalise his plan for Ireland’s next CAP programme for 2023-27. Based on the current proposals, 25% will be sliced off every farmer’s Basic Payment to fund Eco Schemes.

Many farmers will not be able to qualify.  Those who do, will suffer significant compliance costs. As a result, some of our most productive farmers will see their incomes devastated. These Eco Schemes are cuts, not ‘rewards for environmental actions’ as some in Government are describing them.

The EU rules allow our own Government to reduce the percentage cut for Eco Schemes below 25%. The Minister must pursue this and the schemes must be designed in a way that allows our most productive farmers to get a larger Eco Scheme payment.

The Government is also using the terms and conditions of the proposed schemes under Pillar II of the CAP to restrict production, including an attempted cap on suckler cow numbers. This is unacceptable.

Instead, we need proper support for our most vulnerable livestock, sheep and tillage sectors. Farmers need targeted payments of €300 per suckler cow and €30 per eweand a new tillage scheme without restrictive conditions. We need a proper new environment scheme and we are also proposing a new ‘cattle rearing and finisher’ payment. In next week’s Budget, we need to see the current schemes rolled over for 2022.

It is not just in CAP we are facing cuts to incomes. As it stands, the proposed Nitrates Action Plan will cost farmers millions in compliance costs.

One area in which we had success was forcing the Government to amend the Climate Bill in the Seanad to take account of the carbon farms remove from the environment.

However, Minister Ryan now wants to move the goalposts on how removals will be counted by using a ‘gross-net’ measure rather than ‘net-net’. This is sleight-of-hand and bad faith by Minister Ryan. Minister McConalogue needs to call him out on this.

And last week we heard the Minister for Agriculture claim that the State owns carbon credits generated by forestry. Carbon credits are owned by farmers. The State will not steal our carbon credits.

The forestry licensing system is a complete mess. We have to apply for licences for planting, forest roads, thinning and harvesting. Planting and harvesting have ground to a halt and we are now importing timber and missing all our forestry targets.

The carbon tax on diesel is due to be increased again in next week’s Budget, but farmers have no alternative to diesel. The Government has done nothing to support farm scale renewables, despite promises to do so. As a result, our uptake of farm renewables is one of the lowest in the EU.

They banned peat harvesting without considering the consequences for horticulture. We are now importing peat which is counter-productive from a climate perspective.

Horticulture, along with our pig and dairy sectors, are also suffering serious labour shortages, but it’s taking forever to get work permits. Meanwhile the retail sector is putting horticulture producers out of business. Where is the promised Food Ombudsman? 

Huge Government decisions are also due on the allocation of carbon tax revenue and the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

The whole Government approach is to preach at farmers. The Government needs to sit around the table with farmers and agree a plan at farm level for the next five to 10 years. 

If they continue on their current trajectory, they will decimate Irish farming and rural Ireland. This will deliver no benefit to the environment as food production will simply move to other countries that have a larger climate footprint than Ireland.

We have tried to work with the Government on these issues, but all we get is ‘stakeholder consultation’. We need more than that.  Our livelihoods are on the line. 

Tomorrow, I am asking every farmer to attend our rallies in Cavan (7.00am), Roscommon (11.00am), Portlaoise (4.00pm) and Cork City (8.00pm).

IFA Regional Rallies to Save Irish Farming

Location	Meeting Point	Time	Contact Phone No.
Cavan	Meadow View Inn, Dublin Road, Tirquin, H12 W142	7.00am	074 9145658
Roscommon	Dr Hyde Park, Arsallagh Beg, F42 AP82	11.00am	090 6625235
Portlaoise	Motor Tax Office, Portlaoise, R32 NN2P	4.00pm	056 7763404
Cork	Emmet Place, Cork Opera House, T12 DW6P	8.00pm	021 4545944

Come on your tractor or on foot. We need to send a message that Irish farmers will not be sacrificed to facilitate data centres and Brazilian beef expansion.