Farming
‘A fast one pulled’ on Minister’s TB diktat
AGRICULTURE Minister, Simon Coveney, has been accused of using ‘a sledgehammer to crack a nut’ with the introduction of new regulations in relation to the bovine TB eradication scheme that could have disastrous implications for West of Ireland farmers.
Co. Galway IFA Livestock Committee Chairman, Michael Flynn, told the Farming Tribune that Minister Coveney had completely ignored a submission by IFA in relation to the TB scheme and seemed ‘hell bent’ on imposing the maximum financial penalty on farmers by ‘pulling a fast one’ with his new regulations.
“This whole business was handled very badly by the Minister. There’s been no consultation whatsoever with farmers – it’s just a diktat that being announced and it really has serious implications for dairy and beef/suckler farmers,” said Michael Flynn.
He outlined three main points of the Ministerial Regulation signed into law in the middle of February by Minister Coveney as follows:
Farmers who have completed two clear tests after having a reactor will now only have a 90 day window to sell cattle before having another test.
The Dept. are now stating that a farmer ‘may carry the cost’ of having second or more tests in the one year. The current agreement is that the farmer only pays for one test in any year.
A ceiling of €2,800 has been placed on the compensation payable for an animal (€3,500 max. for bulls) with a valuer now being accompanied by a Dept. of Agriculture inspector.
Michael Flynn said that they were also very concerned at consideration being given by the Dept. to a 10 month lock-up period for herds after the completion of two clear tests.
“We met with Government TDs in Galway on Monday and to be honest about it they didn’t seem to be aware of what had happened. This whole business was done very stealthily but the TDs have undertaken to take up the issue with the Minister as a matter of urgency,” said Michael Flynn.
IFA Animal Health Chairman, Bert Stewart, said that Minister Coveney and his officials continued to ignore the difficulties imposed on farmers in the current TB eradication programme.
He said that despite IFA putting a detailed submission to the Minister in September last year identifying necessary changes, the Minister’s officials were intent on increasing the cost burden for farmers and have proposed further tightening of controls with no attempt to take on board the issues raised by IFA.
“Understandably, some issues raised are requirements of EU regulations and the Minister must address these in the appropriate forum in order to find a resolution. Included in this category is the prohibition on purchasing animals into a restricted holding and the restriction of herds where lesions are found at slaughter.
“Accepting that achieving a resolution to these issues may take time, the IFA chairman said the Minister must ensure in the intervening period that his officials minimise the impact on farmers and, where necessary, provide supports,” said Bert Steward.
He also called on the Minister and his officials to engage in a meaningful way to reduce the cost and bureaucratic burden that continued to be imposed on farmers in the TB eradication programme.
Mr. Stewart said while the incidence of the disease continued to decline nationally, this was of little consolation to the thousands of farmers who continued to experience disease breakdowns every year.
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
MINISTER for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has been asked to review a decision taken over recent weeks to exclude the sheep farming sector from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR).
East Galway Independent TD, Seán Canney, has called on the Agriculture Minister and Government to ‘revisit’ the issue of sheep farmers and the BAR fund.
Galway IFA Chair, Stephen Canavan, also said that a mistake had been made in terms of excluding the sheep sector from the BAR funding.
“I think that there is no doubt whatsoever that Brexit had a major impact in terms of New Zealand lamb exports flooding the UK market.
“The knock-on affect of that on Irish sheep farmers was a serious fall-back on lamb and hogget prices through the early months of this year.
“There are now serious concerns that the farmers who buy in store lambs through the early autumn period will just pull out of this market after getting such a scalding over the past six months or so,” said Stephen Canavan.
According to Deputy Seán Canney, all of the Regional Group of TDs are backing the move to get the Government to have another look at the use of the BAR fund for the sheep sector.
“The evidence that sheep farming was affected by Brexit is strong and the decision not to support people in this sector needs to be reversed immediately.
“Brexit negotiations began in June 2016 and caused turmoil in the sheep trade as it weakened the currency making UK lamb far more competitive.
“The notion or threat of ‘a no deal ‘ in Brexit caused the price of sheep to fluctuate repeatedly in the trade and resulted in lambs selling for an estimated €30-€50 lower per head each year during the entire Brexit process,” said Deputy Canney.
WITH the exception of Leitrim, Galway was marginally the cheapest county in the west and north-west to buy non-residential farmland during the course of 2022, according to the latest national survey of prices.
The survey showed that the average price of an acre of ‘good land’ in Galway last year, for holdings under 50-acres, was €9,500 – the dearest was Donegal at €12,143 while the cheapest was Leitrim at €6,140 an acre.
Jointly researched by Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCCI) and Teagasc, the survey also indicated that only 0.5% of land in Ireland goes up for sale each year, a major factor in terms of demand for leased land.
‘Good land’ in Mayo [under 50-acres] averaged out at €10,092; the figure for Roscommon was €9,938; with Sligo coming in at €9,550.
When it came to a comparison of poorer quality land in Connacht [under 50-acres], Mayo was the cheapest at €2,886 followed by Leitrim on €3,300 while Galway topped ‘poor land price league’ at €5,375 per acre.
Auctioneer Martin O’Connor of DNG O’Connor, Oughterard, said that the market was being driven by dairy farmers ‘who are continually ranked throughout the survey as the most likely purchasers of land across the country’.
He said that changes in the European Nitrates Directive in relation to improving water quality meant that many dairy farmers needed more land to comply with this directive.
“In order to maintain current levels of milk production – and to comply with the directive – many dairy farms will need to either increase their land area or reduce milk production.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
