Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Spending money is one thing but taking on debt and depending on stocking rates to repay is another story altogether.

35 delivered?

ICMSA dismiss von der Leyen’s ‘new’ strategy for agriculture until “fundamental binary decision” addressed – Commission guilty of “disabling political cowardice”

The President of ICMSA, Denis Drennan, has said that Ursula von der Leyen’s remarks in which she referenced ‘a new European strategy for our agriculture and food sector’ could not be taken seriously until such point as the Commission finally chooses to either fundamentally reform margins in the Food Supply Chain or increase direct supports to farmers without attaching expensive environmental conditions.

Mr. Drennan said that this was the fundamental binary decision that faced Ms von der Leyden and her Commission, in precisely the same way that it had faced the previous three Presidents of the Commission, without the decision ever being made.   The results of what Mr. Drennan described as “this disabling political cowardice” was the accelerated decline of the EU’s indigenous farming sector - specifically the family-based farming model - and with that, the growing fears around food security and the demonstrable inability of the EU to feed itself.

Mr. Drennan said that Ireland’s farming and food sector provided an almost perfect ‘laboratory experiment’ in how aimless and drifting EU policy implemented by an ideologically hijacked Member State Government could actually so undermine a vibrant farming sector in astonishingly short timeframes.   The ICMSA President cited Ireland’s world-famous dairy sector as his example.

“Under Ms von der Leyen’s Commission and under the present Irish Government, the value of the Irish Dairy Sector – the jewel in our agri crown – has collapsed by around 40% in just three or four years.   The average Irish dairy farmer milking 90-odd cows is now coming out with half the minimum hourly wage set by the State. That’s the legacy of her Commission’s last ‘European strategy for our agriculture and food’.   Until and unless the Commission decides – and directs – Member States to actively support their farming communities then she can go on mouthing these useless platitudes and nothing will change.  Her choice remains what it always has been: either legislate and regulate for fair margins from the retail corporations and face down their intimidation and threats of consumer inflation or increase direct supports to the farmers and decouple those payments from the environmental regulations that have effectively devalued the payments to the point of irrelevance.   Those are her choices now – and they have been the choices facing the Commission for a decade. If the EU wants sustainable food, then it’s going to have to pay a sustainable price”, said Mr. Drennan.

The ICMSA President said farmers had never denied the reality of environmental issues and climate change and the need to incorporate the science into a coherent response.   But he said that farmers had “absolutely and validly” questioned the apparent strategy of loading the costs of addressing the environment and climate change for food production onto the farmers exclusively.

The ICMSA President said that the rest of von der Leyen’s agenda was just “a string of tired aspirations” that owed more to imagination than reality.  He said that if Ms. von der Leyen and the EU was to move past cliché and into meaningful direction, then it was going to involve hard decisions about delivering sustainable incomes for farmers and sharing the cost-burden of climate change equitably.  Above all, it would require a realisation on her part that fretting about the EU’s Food Security while farmers across Europe just gave up and exited on a daily – if not hourly- basis could never be the basis for sound policy and strategic security.

Ends 18 July 2024

Denis Drennan, 086-8389401

President, ICMSA.

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press Office

I did my deal yesterday morning before the straw chopping announcement. €25 a bale off the field here in Wexford. That's fo winter barley straw. Buying off the same man 8 of the last 11 years. Always a tight bale and straw always top quality. Some winter straw does be coarse depending on variety but this man's has always been nice soft golden straw.

I was in that position ….you can’t stay pumping money into farm every year just to decrease tax bill …..you’ve a good number of cows now ….well up probably on where you were 5 years ago …money in substantially up ….it catches up (tax bill)big tax bill and big repayments along with young family and supporting parents is some draw on money …I was there ….most of my buildings done with no grants …..with cost of things now you’d be mad to not avail of it ….and going back to earlier point about all the uncertainty re regs /dero etc …..advisor here now doing financial plans for lads based on 165 organic n figure ….think he’s right …..see few lads now throwing caution to wind to get going farming and spending big based on x cow numbers …if/when they’ve to restock wheels will come off quick

agree re that but 40/60% grant financially is a huge boost on a project ….most jobs done now are grant spec or very near it anyway

I know there’s great comfort in having all the storage and space but you’d have to do it based on an on figure somewhere beteeeen. 170/200 …..if I was any where near 220 or above honest answer unless it was small spend I wouldn’t build or pour concrete to maintain stock numbers at that level …repayments will have to be met and tax and day to day bills paid …….if at 220 or over now and most likely after next year dero drops to 200 …..question I’d ask of myself if in that position is will stock numbers at that reduced met repayments and leave me an income …..there might not be much comfort in looking at extra storage and not needed shed space on that scenario ……not criticising btw fair play for what your doing ……..just from talking to lots of farmers now there really felling the pinch from cost of regulation ,expansion ,day to day business ..crap weather ,lack of labour and maby pushing things too far ….I know of one farmer who I’d know ..bought block of ground added storage ,sheds etc went from 120 cows and been comfortable to 180 and managing but under pressure ….would love to go back to 120 but due to loans ,tax etc he can’t

They aren't really a zero-sum game. If it costs (made up numbers) say 54k to put up a shed, or 90k to put up a slightly larger shed at grant spec with 40% back (getting you back to 54k) well in both cases you spend 54k and have that amount to write off. But with the grant you might have a larger shed. Grant specs mean it won't scale linearly but you often end up with a better shed. Whether or not you live to see the advantage of the better stuff is another matter.

He can always just rent more ground to keep stock numbers up to make sure the tank he's doing will be full of slurry...

Money on slurry storage is money well spent... it will always be there and slurry storage requirements are guaranteed to be become more stringent over the next few years...

We got grant for a tank and shed we did 3 years ago and it was definitely worth the hassle....