The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) has come out in defence of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue’s approach to farmer consultation for the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (CSP).
Following criticism from a number of farm organisations on the ‘mart tour’ process over the last few months, the IBLA has said that it wishes to “give credit where credit is due”.
“The minister has adopted a new, fresh and modern approach to stakeholder engagement. He has gone out on the ground to walk among the primary producers of Ireland, the front line workers in agriculture,” the farm group argued in a statement.
“He has shown at meeting after meeting a very clear understanding and an in-depth knowledge of CAP. His ability to converse openly and in a frank manner with primary producers has struck a chord with those in attendance.”
According to the IBLA, Minister McConalogue has “seen for himself first hand” the issues on farmers’ minds, something that has “never occurred before in CAP consultation”, the group said.
The IBLA believes that “a new and modern farming era is beckoning, one where a sustainable and viable future is required, and one with a new and modern approach to stakeholder engagement”.
“The ‘old boys club’ time is up and the factory protests of 2019 have shown this, along with public engagement with farmers through the surveys undertaken. Farmers require sight of a fair and transparent process to show how policy is decided and delivered,” the group argued.
“The minister has gone out on the grounds to seek opinions on how to steer agriculture in the best direction, rather than through lobby groups, those with vested interests and conflicted representation. The minister has shown an approach to the farming public on how to do the right thing.”
The IBLA claimed that the minister’s approach “has not sat well with those who claimed power to speak for all”.
The organisation wished the minister well in the next steps of developing CAP, but highlighted that he “cannot discount the voices in the mart auditoriums”.
“Policy decisions must benefit as many primary producers as possible… It’s time the pie was shared fairly among all farmers,” the IBLA statement concluded.