22


East Cork


The President of ICM-


SA has again criticised what he said was the ‘un- dermining effects’ of dis- cretionary bonuses or pay- ments on Base Milk Price. Pat McCormack said that the association was ‘un- happy and suspicious’ of the practice that saw Co- ops paying a Base Milk Price that was below that of the Ornua PPI which was then ‘topped up’ by a cent or two on grounds of ‘Hardship’ or ‘Loyalty’. Mr McCormack said that ICMSA rejected the idea that paying any element of a proper, market-de- rived milk price could be ‘discretionary’ and he in- sisted that farmers wanted


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Agriculture


to be paid a proper price for their milk because that was what it was worth and not ‘at the whim’ of the processor who they were supplying.


“We do not accept the


idea that re-calibrating a minimum Base Milk Price and dividing it into ele- ments that are market-de- rived and discretionary stands up to any scrutiny at all. This months’ milk price


announcements


are a case-in-point. The Ornua PPI translated across to 32.1 c/L and remember that this is the price


why then do we have milk processors announcing a


Base Milk Price below the PPI and then announcing a ‘Bonus’ as if they were doing their suppliers a favour? Their milk suppli- ers don’t want or like the impression that


standing in front of their Co-op with their


they’re ‘caps-


in-hand’ waiting for the proper market payment at the whim of the proces- sor; what they want – and what they’re entitled to – is at least the same price- per-litre


that the


cessor was paid for their products. The fact


already achieved, not


pro- that


farmers are in very serious straits regarding cash-flow and soaring costs actu- ally makes this practice worse: it’s as if the farm-


Thursday, 23rd


August 2018


info@eastcorkjournal.ie Deadline Monday at noon


ICMSA lashes ‘undermining effects’ of discretionary bonuses on Base Milk Price


ers are being put in the position of ‘hired hands’ who should be grateful to be getting as a bonus what they should be get- ting as a right. ICMSA is very conscious of the kind of financial vice-grip that thousands of farmers are in and we know that every cents counts. But we’re


and we reject and resent this insidious practice of shorting farmers on their proper price and then then announcing a ‘top up’ discretionary payment that brings it up to what it should have been in the first place”, said Mr Mc- Cormack


fooled at all


Farm Fodder Crisis - ICMSA say farmers “at a loss” to understand delay in low-cost loans scheme


The ICMSA Presi-


dent, Pat McCormack, has added his voice to the calls for the Brexit Low Cost Loan Scheme for farmers announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Expendi- ture in Budget 2018 to be opened as quickly as possible


given what he


described as the “massive pressures” on farmers at present.


Mr. McCormack said


that a significant number of farmers are currently facing unprecedented fi-


MINISTER D’ARCY WRONG ON VULTURE FUNDS – IFA - COMMENTS ARE COP-


OUT BY GOVERNMENT IFA President Joe


Healy said it was ex- tremely disappointing to see Junior Minister for Finance Michael D’Arcy say that vul- ture funds are easier to deal with compared to the banks. “That has not been the expe- rience in the cases we have dealt with. It’s a cause for concern that somebody


in elect-


ed office would have such a view as people would be relying on him to sort this out.”


vulture


“It’s a cop out to say funds don’t


need to be regulat- ed. They do, and the Government needs to make it happen,” he said.


“While are it can be


difficult to deal with banks too, they are regulated because as they


in new business, they have


mindful of how they treat


to at their


interested least be existing


customers,” he said. The IFA has re-stat-


ed its opposition to any attempt by vul- ture funds to force farm families


to sell


their farms to settle debts.


“The faceless funds


which have no under- standing of farming are hellbent on de- stroying families while feeding on the carcass of the family farm,” he said.


Chairman Martin Stapleton


IFA Farm Business said


that debt restructuring


should be based on the repayment capac- ity.


“Farm families


should be given the time to repay their debts over a longer term to keep the farm intact. Farmers are


particularly vul-


nerable because the security tends to be far higher in relation to the value of the loan in comparison to other SMEs. It is not acceptable for vulture funds to force a sale of land and cash in debts


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


IFA is standing be- hind farmers who are


implementing a cred- ible


committed to solution.


It is


designed to protect farmers from the vulture funds’ which want to get their mon- ey immediately. Farm- ers must be allowed to repay their debts over an appropriate time- frame.


eastcorkjournal @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


they have bought from a bank when there is a viable alternative.”


nancial stress owing, in- itially, to the late Spring and then the Summer drought which he said has added thousands of Euro to particularly feed and fertilizer bills.


have mounted up over the course of 2018 and incomes will be slashed over


the same period.


Cashflow is now a mas- sive issue for farmers and one that will only intensi- fy as the year progresses. These “Low Cost Loans” have to materialize quick- ly and must


“Bills be made available at interest rates


similar to the last scheme – but the emphasis has to be on rolling them out to those farmers who need them most urgently and that could be a very significant number. The Brexit loan scheme for SME’s was opened in March 2018 and farmers - given the highly publi- cized pressures on them – are at a loss to understand why there is such a delay in their scheme. We have to see this opened and operating immediately”, concluded Mr. McCor- mack.


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