exports, and more than 90% of all Irish mushroom exports.” Healy confirmed that the border creates serious challenges. He said: “Every year, thousands of animals and huge volumes of agricultural produce cross the border to Northern Ireland for further finishing or processing, as part of a highly integrated supply chain. “These trading links have built up over many years and are critically important for farmers and processors on both sides of the border.
“Brexit presents a real checks and other controls.”
The IFA president said that defending the European model of farming is a cornerstone of the Common Agricultural Policy, adding: “The EU applies tariffs on imports from non-EU countries to protect the market for European farmers.
“A cheap food policy in the UK would fatally undermine Irish and EU exports and hit farmer prices. Farmers across all sectors, particularly in the drystock sectors, are hugely dependent on direct payments.
“We cannot allow that to happen. Irish farmers do not want to hear any talk of future cuts in direct payments.”
According to Healy, most exposed to a bad deal is the Irish beef sector, for which the threat from Brexit is frightening.
“The UK is the market for 50% or 270,000 tonnes of Irish beef exports. IFA strongly supports efforts to secure new markets for Irish beef. However, the reality is that any damage to our position on the UK market would see significant displacement of Irish beef onto EU markets, such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. “This would destabilise the EU beef market, undermining price returns to farmers not just in Ireland but across Europe.”
Healy said that Brexit also presents a particular threat for milk processors depending on an all-Ireland milk pool.
“The same goes for the pigmeat and poultry sectors, where large volumes of product are moving across the border for processing. “In the sheep sector, the key issue is the future destination of large volumes of New Zealand lamb imports.”
“Across virtually every sector in agriculture, from beef, dairy and lamb, to mushrooms and forestry, there is a real threat from Brexit.”
risk of a ‘hard’ border, with customs
BLACKGRASS CONTROLS REMAIN A PRIORITY FOR IRELAND’S TILLAGE SECTOR
Keeping blackgrass out of Ireland remains a priority for the IFA, according to the organisation’s Grain Committee Chairman Liam Dunne.
“And the same holds for Sterile Brome, which is also becoming extremely difficult to control in cereal crops,” he said.
“There is a small amount of blackgrass in Ireland. This can be eradicated. The challenge is keeping the weed out of the country on a long-term basis.”
Dunne said that the issue of blackgrass control had been raised at the grain forum.
“We asked the Minister to ensure that all grain brought Ireland from the UK must have a certi fi cate of screening. addition, straw brought in from the UK must come from farms that do not have a blackgrass problem.”
Where imported machinery is concerned, Dunne said that the same principle must hold.
“We don’t think it is feasible to have every machine that comes in from the UK individually inspected. But the principle of having each imported item accompanied by a relevant certificate must be adopted.”
Dunne confirmed that, as a rule of thumb, Irish merchants do not import grain seed from the UK.
“Total preference is given to Irish-produced seed. But I am
aware that individual farmers may import seed from the UK. This practice cannot be stopped. But it is one that puts the entire Irish grain sector at risk.
tolerance level brome.
“The reality is that grain seed produced in the UK has a certain for weed seeds,
including blackgrass and sterile
Importing such seed is asking for trouble. And I would urge growers engaged in this practice to think of the long-term problems they are creating for their own businesses and the tillage sector as whole. Dunne confirmed that no date has yet been set for a further
meeting of the grain forum. “But that’s not important. The Minister has acted unilaterally on
into In
FEED COMPOUNDER MAY/JUNE 2017 PAGE 23
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