The latest episode of Farmland, shines a light on how the current inflation and input crises are affecting two key areas within the agricultural industry – the machinery sector and the farming family.
In the programme, which will go live on the Agriland platform from 7:00p.m tomorrow (Tuesday, April 26), executive director of the Farm Tractor Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) Michael Farrelly, discusses the outlook for the machinery world as energy costs continue to soar.
He presents his expectations for the industry, explaining that while sales remain strong currently, price rises are unavoidable as the manufacturing process of these products is energy intensive.
Despite a rise in prices, strong sales may continue according to Farrelly, following an increase in some commodity prices such as milk.
Farmland discusses silage
Also on the episode, Agriland journalist Richard Halleron presents his outlook on silage production in 2022. He questions if Ireland is “sleepwalking into a winter fodder crisis” due to low fertiliser use in the early half of the year.
Later in the programme, Alice Doyle, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) chair of the Family Farm and Social Affairs Committee, speaks about the effect of multiple financial pressures on farming families.
As she outlines the numerous difficulties these families face in making ends meet, she mentions rural disadvantage and the knock-on effects such as poor mental wellbeing and farm safety issues.
Doyle also discusses a lack of consistency between Irish and EU policies governing the sector in the episode.
The latest episodes of Farmland can be streamed via the award-winning digital platform, agriland.ie by clicking here. Links will also be available across all Agriland social media channels.
Farmland Extra – the podcast, is also available on all major podcast platforms.