20


East Cork


In the week when the


overall CAP Budget will be announced, the President of ICMSA has said that the single greatest reassur- ance the EU can provide rural


Ireland is through


a viable and maintained CAP. Pat


said it was impossible direct payments


McCormack to


overstate how fundamen- tal the


were in ensuring the eco- nomic and social viability of large areas of the state and he was particularly critical of the idea – now widespread – that maintaining the budget limit


even current


represented the of our ambitions.


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Agriculture


Mr McCormack pointed out that CAP had always been seen as the price the EU paid for sustainable production of the high- est


standard food on the


planet being made availa- ble at affordable prices to the consumers. That


re-


mained the reality, he said. It was the unwillingness


of the EU to insist that farmer and primary-pro- ducers received a realistic price from the processors and retailers that had led directly to CAP direct payments that were, effec- tively, at attempt at ‘mak- ing up the difference’ and keeping European family


ICSA Demands Consultation Not CPOS On Greenways


Following a meeting


with landowners affected by proposed Greenways in Kerry, Clare and the Gal- way region, ICSA Rural Development


the


of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) should be removed from the


Seamus Sherlock has re- iterated that


chairman threat


pro-


cess. “CPOs are viewed as heavy handed in the extreme and fill landown- ers with absolute fear and confusion. Many feel they are being forced into a Da- vid versus Goliath position and have to deal with all the stress and anxiety that goes with that,” said Mr Sherlock. Continuing Mr Sher-


lock said, “ICSA, as well as the majority of land- owners, fully support tourism initiatives like cycleways and walkways but they have to be done right and with the proper consultation. That prop- er


consultation process was promised by Minis-


ter Ross and needs to be put in place. This would allow affected landown- ers raise their legitimate concerns as well as give the invaluable


input of


vast local knowledge. By working together I have no doubt that a consensus on workable routes could be reached and these pro- jects could move forward with goodwill. It is widely accepted that the goodwill of local communities is a vital element for the suc- cess of tourism initiatives.” “ICSA believes that


Minister Ross should hon- our his promise of proper consultation and as a ges- ture of goodwill remove the threat of CPOs. CPOs were intended for essential infrastructure projects like motorways not for tour- ism experiments. Farmers and landowners are not the problem here, it’s the heavy handed negative ap- proach taken by Transport Infrastructure Ireland that seems to be the real issue.”


farming alive at some lev- el.


“The reality now is that


there are whole swathes of Ireland where the overall economy is hugely de- pendent on the multiplier effect of those direct pay- ments as they go through the farms and out into the wider economy. Any less- ening of those payments - of that commitment – has a similar negative multipli- er effect and will inflict per- manent damage on what is already a very fragile and finely balanced rural economy. The Irish Gov- ernment must insist


that the current CAP budget


Thursday, 3rd


May 2018


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Deadline Monday at noon


CAP Budget to be Announced this Week – ICMSA Stress ‘Multiplier Effect’ in Rural Ireland


is maintained and if that means that the remaining Member States make good the deficit arising from the UK’s withdrawal then that is what must happen – and Ireland must indicate that it will increase its contri- bution proportionately in the expectation that others will do the same.


Farm-


ers will very clearly judge the record of this Gov- ernment in terms of its success in securing an ade- quate CAP budget as well as progressing the reforms that allow farmers to earn a viable and fair income from farming”, concluded Mr. McCormack.


Cattle Prices Move Up By 5c-10c/Kg And Positive Prospects On Eu Price - IFA


IFA National Livestock


Chairman Angus Woods said the cattle trade is get- ting stronger, with prices moving ahead by 5c to 10c/kg, depending on lo- cation and also on the cat- egory of livestock. He said the base price


for steers has now moved up to €4.05/4.10/kg and for heifers to €4.15/4.20/ kg. He said the higher prices of €4.10 and €4.20 appear to be more preva- lent in the northern, east- ern and western parts of the country. Angus Woods said cow


prices have also increased, with some grades up 10c/ kg on last week. He said some quality R grade cows are making up to €3.85/ kg, with O grades as high as €3.60/kg and P grades on €3.45/kg in places. Young Bull have


also


increased in price with €4.10/kg available


grades and €4.20 plus paid for U grades.


At an EU Commission


Beef Meeting he chaired in Brussels recently, An- gus Woods said there was a more positive tone to prospects for the


trade for R


for 2018. The EU Com- mission is forecasting an increase in consumption of 0.4% and only a very small rise in production of 0.13%. He said the Com- mission is also forecasting that EU prime beef prices should rise by 1.3% and cow prices look set to in- crease by 3.83% in 2018. He said all the figures point to a strong recovery and growth in beef con- sumption across the EU markets with overall EU imports up and exports down for the first two months of 2018.


Cork Farming Family Selected as One of Agri Aware ‘National Open Farm Day’ Hosts Four leading farms to open gates to the public on Bank Holiday Monday, 7th


May Agri Aware, the Irish


agri-food education- al body, has today an- nounced details of its in- augural ‘National Open Farm Day’ which will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 7th


May 2018.


Dairy and beef farmers, John and Ann Coughlan, from Ballyellis, Buttevant, Co. Cork have been se- lected as one of four farms to host the national event. This will be the first time


in Ireland that farms from across the country will si- multaneously open their gates to the public on one day to help educate con- sumers about what hap- pens on a working farm and to encourage families to learn more about where our food comes from. John and Ann Cough-


lan’s farm in Buttevant lies between Mallow and Charleville, backed by the northern hills of the Cork-Limerick border


and close to Doneraile Wildlife Park. Dating back to the 1830s, the farm once belonged to John’s mother and has been in the family for an impres- sive six generations. Ann is a former teach-


er, but now works full- time on the farm with John. The


couple have


two grown-up children, Michael (27) and Hele- na (26) who both work abroad. They have one full-time member of staff, George O’Keeffe, who is part of the family at this stage, having worked with the Coughlans for almost four decades! The Coughlan’s farm


operates 365 days of the year producing beef and milk.


Their dairy cows


are milked twice a day morning and evening and this milk then goes to the Dairygold co-operative. Here the milk is processed and packaged for consum-


Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


ers to buy in the form of cheese, butter and cartons of milk.Their beef goes to Dawn Meats where it


is


processed in the form of beef joints, steak, burgers and much more and then sold to retailers, hotels and restaurants before ending up on consumer’s plates in Ireland and around the world.


In addition to the hec-


tic life of the farm, John is the IFA’s Regional Chair- man for Munster, while Ann is Secretary of But- tevant Heritage Group. Ann works closely with the group to preserve the town’s rich medieval Norman history and to honour the area’s farming heritage. “It is important that we continue to high- light the role of the family farm as a key part of the rural community,” says Ann. Both Ann and John are delighted to have the


opportunity to take part in National Open Farm Day on May 7th


to showcase all aspects of farming for their visitors. Speaking at


the an-


nouncement, Agri Aware Chairman, Richard Mo- eran said, “This national event aims to connect con- sumers directly with the primary producers of our food in a transparent and highly engaging way. We hope to open the lines of communication between farmers and the consum- ers of their products and develop a greater under- standing about how the food we eat everyday gets to our tables. The nation- wide events will also allow people to experience what day to day life on a work- ing farm involves and the measures farmers under- take to produce safe, qual- ity food in a sustainable way.”


eastcorkjournal , and plan


Agri Aware’s National Open Farm Day 2018 host farmers are: 1. John and Ann Coughlan - Dairy and Beef Farm in Ballyellis, Buttevant, Co. Cork 2. Padraic and Breege


Joyce - Dairy Farm in Is- landeady, Castlebar, Co Mayo 3. Tom and Geraldine


Short - Sheep & Tillage Farm at Kilmullen House, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow 4. Padraic and


Bríd


McMahon - Beef, Sheep, Turkey & Tillage Farm in Fieldstown West, Kilsal- lagh, Co Dublin On the day, each of the


farms will open their gates to the public from 11am – 4pm and each location will offer its own unique programme of activities, full details of which will be announced closer to the time.


@eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


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