22


East Cork


IFA President Joe


Healy has said urgent actions are needed to help farmers in the current drought situa- tion. “The current sit- uation is unprecedent- ed and is causing huge financial pressures on farms and huge stress for farmers,” he said.


“What we now need is real leadership from the Minister and our Government to assist farmers at this ex- traordinarily difficult time,” he said.


1. Delivering on


low cost loans as com- mitted in last year’s


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Agriculture


FARMERS NEED DROUGHT MEASURES - IFA


Budget. 2.


The Minister


must convene urgent meetings with meat factories and retailers to stop exploiting the drought conditions, stabilise market prices and restore confidence. 3.


Flexibility on


GLAS and nitrates to allow farmers maxim- ise


the conservation


of fodder between now and the end of the year. 4.


Advance BPS


payments of 70% in mid-October, 85% of GLAS payments in No- vember and full ANC payments in early Sep- tember. 5.


Incentives for


The IFA President said that the Minister must show empathy with farmers at this most difficult time. The drought is hav- ing a severe


impact


on farm income and farmers expect action from Government.


tillage farmers to grow fodder crops on har- vested lands. 6.


The reacti-


vation of the fodder importation scheme which was available earlier this year. 7.


Strong finan-


cial support for farm- ers in the upcoming Budget.


the


Thursday, 2nd


August 2018


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Deadline Monday at noon


IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM ON FAIR DEAL CHANGES FOR FARM FAMILIES


IFA Farm Family & Social Affairs Caroline Farrell has


acknowl-


edged the decision by Cabinet to reduce the burden on farm fami- lies with the introduc- tion of a three-year cap on farm business assets under


Fair Deal


scheme. She said it was important to move this forward in a speedy manner.


Caroline Farrell also


said the amendment to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 needed to be en- acted as a matter of urgency to give certain- ty to farm families and


SHEEP EID MUST BE DEFERRED – IFA


At a recent meeting with senior personnel in the Department of Agriculture on sheep EID (Electronic Identi- fication), IFA Nation- al Sheep Committee Chairman Sean Den- nehy said the propos- al to impose EID from October 1st ahead.


cannot go


He said the timing is totally impracti- cal and will seriously damage a fragile store lamb trade. “The nec- essary arrangements are not in place in the Department. EID from October 1st


will


have to be deferred.” The


IFA Sheep


Chairman said the Department of Agri- culture agreed with the IFA costings that the proposal to im- pose EID will cost sheep farmers an ex- tra to €2m pa, or €14m over the lifetime of FoodWise up to 2025.


very clear that sheep farmers,


He said IFA made it operating


on very low incomes, cannot carry the ad- ditional costs of EID and the Department of


have to provide a full subvention


Agriculture on


will the


costs of EID tags. He said sheep farmers consider the proposal from the Department for a once off €50 for the purchase of tags as derisory and totally unacceptable. Sean Dennehy said


sheep farmers are going through a hor- rendous year. “2018 is proving to be ex- tremely difficult. The bad weather


in the


spring and the very difficult fodder situa- tion left sheep farm- ers with major losses and massive bills. On top of this, the De- partment imposed the clean lamb policy


with major addition- al costs. The extreme drought conditions combined with se- vere factory and store lamb price cuts have left farmers with no income. Imposing EID with extra costs of €2m is a non-runner and makes no sense whatsoever.” The IFA sheep farm-


ers leader said during the discussion with the Department, the IFA pointed out that there are no tracea- bility benefits at all from imposing EID on sheep that go from the farm of origin directly to slaughter. He said the EU regulations provide that it is not necessary


to apply


EID to these sheep. Sean Dennehy said


Agriculture Minister Michael Creed must take on board the crit- ical issues raised by the IFA in relation to


EID, particularly in relation to deferring the October dead- line and to providing a full subvention on the costs. In addition, he said IFA has pro- posed Minister Creed needs to introduce an additional support payment for the sheep sector


utilising the


unspent funds from the


Sheep Welfare


Scheme and RDP. He said IFA has proposed an additional environ- mental targeted pay- ment of €5 per ewe and this will be a key part of IFA’s Budget 2019 campaign. The IFA delegation


which met the De- partment also raised specific issues around EID and hill sheep as well as market ac- cess, the removal of non-statutory factory levies and TAMS sup- port for sheep farm- ers.


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


to protect the future viability of the family farm.


“I am very much looking forward to the publication of the Heads of Bill as these will provide greater clarity for farm fam- ilies on the details of how the cap will be ap- plied”, said Farrell.


Caroline


She recognised Min- ister Daly’s commit- ment to progressing the changes to the scheme and said that she looked forward to continuing to work with the Min- ister to ensure these


changes are introduced into legislation as soon as possible.


IFA has been cam- paigning since 2012 for the introduction of a cap on the maximum charge that can be ap- plied to farm assets. Currently, there is a charge of up to 7.5% of the value of the farm asset per annum for the duration of an individu- al’s stay in the nursing home.


“Farm families need clarity on how the cap will be applied so they can make the most ap- propriate decisions


in meeting the cost of care. The uncertain- ty created by the un- capped liability on the farm business assets has caused huge dis- tress, with the viability of some farm business- es being undermined or lost while families try to meet the cost of care.”


She called on the


Government to prior- itise the amendment of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 after the summer recess.


EARLY CONSULTATION ESSENTIAL FOR GREENWAY DEVELOPMENT - IFA


Speaking at a recent


IFA protest opposing CPO’s for Greenways, at the offices of Ker- ry County Council in Tralee, IFA Munster Regional Chairman John Coughlan said that “Farmers and their families are the most important stakeholders in any infrastructure de- velopment, as projects such as greenways will have an ongoing impact on their livelihoods and farm businesses. Con- sultation to date has been haphazard and, in some cases, non-exist- ent.” IFA recognises the


value of Greenways for rural tourism and has always been willing to engage in a proactive manner to achieve an outcome that recognis- es the role of everybody, but will not stand by and allow County Coun- cils to use CPO’s. Ker-


ry County Council has adopted a very rigid ap- proach that has served to alienate farmers and appear unwilling to take on board some con- structive suggestions put forward by Kerry IFA.


He also called for the appointment of agrono- mists on all new green- ways, to represent land- owners impacted and to ensure that farmers’ in- terests are professional- ly represented. John Coughlan said,


“We can see at first hand the problems with the proposed south Kerry greenway, where the local authority has failed to appoint an agronomist. The IFA delegation that met with Minister Ross recently made the strongest case possible for the imme- diate appointment of an agronomist to this pro- ject and for the threat of


eastcorkjournal


CPO’s to be dropped.” He said, “Farmers here in Munster and indeed right across the country deserve to be treated better when it comes to the develop- ment


of recreational


routes, whether they are greenways or blueways. IFA are very supportive of the development of Greenways, as such rec- reational routes have an important role to play in re-energising rural areas. However as an or- ganisation, we are very clear that they must be built in consultation with farm families and local communities.” Mr. Coughlan con- cluded by saying that if progress is to be made on Greenways in Kerry, Cork or anywhere else, it would have to be done by genuine dialogue with the farmers and landowners affected.


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