Milk prices have plummeted, and the short-term forecast is not good. This crazy volatility in our food production systems has to be stabilised immediately.
very Irish and EU regulation (in law or proposed) seems to be aimed at reducing food production — re-wetting, forestry, land for anaerobic digestion, zoning for development etc. All of these actions will reduce the available land for food production.
New Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has called for the removal of the Nitrates Derogation, describing it as inherently volatile leading to uncertainty in farming.
Instead she favouring sustainable agriculture — without any economic models to support her opinion.
Well the reality is almost half the dairy farmers in Ireland avail of the derogation and have built solid, profitable farms on the strength of it, maintaining thousands of rural jobs and supporting rural communities.
The Moorepark model shows a derogation-level stocking rate to be the most sustainable model from an economic perspective while implementing best practice using all the actions included in the Teagasc MACC.
As we set about increasing space for nature and biodiversity on our farms, we must not forget that the world needs more food, and viable productive agriculture is the only way to achieve that — while also keeping rural communities vibrant and alive.
The most volatile aspect of agriculture is that we have no influence over the price of our inputs and government legislation dictates we have no voice in setting the price of our outputs.
John F Kennedy highlighted the plight of farmers 60-odd years ago when he said: “The farmer buys retail, sells wholesale and pays the freight both ways”
The roller-coaster that farmers have endured over the last year or so must be addressed by our own government and by EU legislators.
It was very difficult to understand the factors that drove milk prices so high for a short period last autumn, to a level where consumers started to seek alternatives.
This was bad for farmers and consumers, because the likelihood was that those alternatives were even more expensive, but also a lot less nutritious.
Some wealthy investment funds in the futures markets had a hand in the price spikes, but of more long-term relevance is that many retailers will not roll back the price increases.
Throughout history, in periods of extreme volatility (usually war), the powerful get wealthier but most ordinary people — especially primary producers — lose out. While farmers’ costs sky-rocket, many big companies are reporting massive growth in profits.
Meanwhile, on the farm here calving is complete, and almost all beef calves have been sold, so the sheds are virtually empty.
My wife Trish and I are taking a staycation next week, which we are looking forward to after the busy spring.
Our son Enda has fields ready for re-seeding on both the milking platform and the out-farms when the weather settles.
Clover will be included everywhere in the mix and soil tests are good, but we are concerned by an unexplained drop in indexes from last year to this year.
Henry and Patricia Walsh farm in Oranmore, Co Galway along with their son Enda and neighbour and outfarm owner John Moran
Read More