The fallout from the practice of designating only one person as herd keeper was raised by a dairy farmer from Co. Laois during her address to the latest instalment of the Fine Gael national agriculture, food and rural development forum in Co. Carlow recently.
Lorna Sixsmith from Crettyard contended that while it sounds like a small issue, it is actually a large problem in terms of visibility within the farming sector.
Mona O’Donoghue Concannon, who chairs the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG), told Agriland that the group is in discussions with the DAFM in relation to the policy on herd keepers.
“Since 2016, the department doesn’t put two names as herd keeper. We are asking for this to be reversed so both names can be on the blue cards as herd keeper,” O’Donoghue Concannon said.
“We hope that the department will meet us specifically on this issue soon.”
Lorna said that when she inherited her parents’ farm in 2003, the blue cards/animal passports were in her full legal name.
“The four words fit within the space on the blue card so space on the blue card can’t be a limiting factor on changing the system,” she contended.
“When we formed a company in 2016 – we are obviously equal directors in the company – the Department of agriculture, food and the marine (DAFM) asked us to assign a herd keeper,” she said.
“My husband, Brian, was farming 100% of the time whereas I was also writing a book, driving kids to and from various activities and had other stuff going on besides the farm so I was happy enough with Brian being the herd keeper.”
Lorna expected the blue cards to have the company name or both their names on them. However, she said “they only contain Brian’s name”,” she said.”.
“It may sound like a small issue, but it’s huge. For example, I do all the calf rearing and when calves are sold, my name isn’t on their passport,” she said.
“It’s all about visibility. I feel obliterated by the system.
“To use the sporting phase: ‘If she can’t see it, she can’t be it.’ And one I created for my talk: ‘If others can’t see it, they will question her authority.’
“I have had enough of people asking if I am really a farmer, from tradespeople to those taking Central Statistics Office (CSO) surveys to salespeople. I really don’t think I should have to state all I do on the farm to prove I’m a farmer.”
‘Beyond ridiculous ‘
“It’s beyond ridiculous at times, especially when I’m wearing a milking apron and have just climbed down from the loader,” Lorna said.
“The 60% grant aid in the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) investment scheme for women is hopefully going to mean a lot more partnerships being formed but we still need the visibility of both names on the passports. The herd keeper can be the first name,” she added.
“There is also a ‘glitch’ with the grants as apparently the woman has to be the herd keeper to get the 60% grant, ” Lorna said.
However, she said that Minister Martin Heydon had given assurances that the issue will be addressed.
“While I could easily become the herd keeper again if they wanted to secure a 60% grant, and to have my name on the passports, but it’s about equality,” the farmer added.
“We are both directors of the company and both should be equally visible on the paperwork. It wouldn’t seem fair if my husband wasn’t represented.
‘”As a woman, I want equality, not to take over.
“Minister Heydon seemed to understand the importance of the issue, as did many men and women at the Carlow meeting. Minister Haydon has promised me that he will look into it and I am expecting a positive outcome,” Lorna said.
Not alone
Also affected by the current system is Millie Farrelly McIntyre who owns a dairy farm with her husband in Co. Offaly. “When I was 21, I took over my family farm following the death of my father when I was younger, and the early retirement of my mother.
“I had completed my Green Cert a couple of years previously. I also took on the family herd number at that time and I farmed on my own for several years,” she said.
After getting married in 2001, she and her husband merged their herds and began farming together.
“We chose to use my husband’s herd number. My herd number was made dormant,” she said.
“At that stage, both of our names were put onto his herd number. We farmed as a partnership from 2001 to 2010 with both of our names on the blue cards.
“In 2010 we formed a company. After a year or two, the DAFM started requesting that we appoint a keeper for the herd. Considering it was originally my husband’s family herd number, I felt that he should be the keeper. It was a difficult decision for both of us.
“We always thought that this would just be a legal title, a person on record to be held accountable in a legal situation, but soon after he was appointed keeper, the blue cards started arriving with just my husband’s name printed on them. That is how it has been for the last 12 years.
“His name is listed as the keeper on the Agfood website, along with our company name as the owner. For quite a while they would only discuss matters with him on the phone, but thankfully that has been resolved.
“He is listed as the owner on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) website. His name alone appears in all sorts of official places, whereas mine no longer appears anywhere,” she said.
“My husband and I are equally qualified as farmers. We both farm full-time. We were both landowners and farmed independently before we met. We are equal shareholders in our company. “
Like Lorna, she finds her role on the farm constantly being undermined.
“When people call to the yard, they ask me: ‘Is the boss about?” she said.
“Tradespeople and sales reps regularly talk over me and speak to my husband. Women in agriculture have to prove their worth over and over in a way that men do not have to,” the mother of four contended.
“The printing of the blue cards with just the keeper’s name on them is demoralising to the other people who are involved in the herd number, regardless of gender. In our case, we would be happy to have both of our names, or the company name on them,” she said.