A new environmental scheme will be key to future of farming

WEST of Ireland politicians have been asked to listen to the concerns of local suckler farmers who are now facing into a ‘runaway crisis’, according to Donie Shine, the National Chair of the Irish Family Farm Rights Group (IFRG), when he addressed a meeting in Menlough earlier this month.

Mr. Shine told the meeting in Screene’s of Guilka that many farmers were now ‘broke and depressed’ adding that they were a proud community who wouldn’t admit it when things were going bad.

He said that the IFRG made a detailed submission to the Dept. of Agriculture last July suggesting an outline for how an environmental scheme – to include a €300 suckler cow welfare measure – might work for farmers.

“IFRG proposed a suckler cow welfare measure that would reward the proper weaning of calves so that Ireland might reclaim part of the 900,000 head-of-cattle strong export market that the country used to enjoy with Italy, a market lost when the Dept. of Agriculture dropped its then animal welfare scheme,” said Donie Shine

He said that the Four Movements’ Rule was denying farmers a decent price for their product at the factories adding that the IFRG had amassed 12,000 farmers’ signatures as part of a petition against such a rule.”

He said that the blockading of factories; the protests outside of retail distribution centres; and the occupation of semi-state agency offices had all turned out – and proven themselves to be – ‘nothing more than self-serving, publicity seeking exercises’.

“Roaring, balling and intimidation tactics might get some people’s names and photos in the newspapers and might serve to stroke the egos of the few public relations ‘warriors’ involved, but they will not serve the concerns and interests of farmers on the ground who need to have constructive solutions put forward on their behalves,” said Donie Shine.

Roscommon-Galway Independent TD, Michael Fitzmaurice told the meeting that a good environmental scheme was needed but ‘it must be simple’.

“There should be in the order of €8,000 made available under an environmental scheme on the first 32 hectares of a qualifying farm, similar to the old REP Scheme, and it must be nailed down under [CAP] Pillar 2.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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