President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), Denis Drennan, has today (Tuesday, May 14) launched the ‘ICMSA Guide To Election 2024’ at the Radisson Hotel in Limerick.
The association has said that it is the essential guide to agricultural and rural issues for both farmer voters and candidates in the run-up to the European and local elections being held on June 7.
Drennan said that every effort had been made to identify the most persistent problems and challenges and to bring forward solutions in bullet-point form in a straightforward way.
He said he was confident that anyone – rural or otherwise – will be able to use the ‘guide’ and understand the context of the problems as well as seeing the logic behind solutions suggested by the ICMSA.
ICMSA election guide
The guide aims to ensure that local and European election candidates are aware of the most pressing issues for farmers and those living in rural areas.
One of the primary areas of focus is the “relentless pressure on farmer margin”, according to the association, which added that farmer income has “come to a head after a historically wet and long winter”.
The guide stated: “The value of Irish agri output has collapsed by in excess of 30% in just two years.
“In every sector, farmers are reeling from low prices, high input prices, a crushing regulatory burden, and a relentless attack from the most extreme environmental elements both in government and through a bewildering array of taxpayer supported NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and quangos.
“We have dairy farmers receiving the same prices as their parents received 30 years ago. Everyone sympathises, but we don’t want sympathy anymore, we want action,” the guide stated.
According to the ICMSA, the second issue that is going to dominate the upcoming elections in rural areas is the realisation – both on the part of the farmers and the political parties that farmers once supported – that this old relationship is finally over.
“Farmers feel, with a great deal of justification and evidence for their conclusion, that no party is prepared to represent them or defend them in a way that their economic, social, and cultural
role – as well as the simple facts of the matter – entitle them to expect,” the ICMSA stated.
The association is warning politicians and potential politicians, that no votes are guaranteed that may have historically been given from a particular household to a particular party or candidate.
“Farmers feel they have been abandoned politically and that they are therefore fully entitled to ‘begin again’ and chose candidates on the basis of who will stand up for their interests,” the association’s president said.
Priorities
The ICMSA has outlined some priorities for the future of farming which will be relevant to would-be politicians when visiting doorsteps or farm yards.
The five priorities are as follows:
- Development of a time-lined government and EU strategy to deliver farm incomes comparable to other sectors;
- Retention of the nitrates derogation and a review of Nature Restoration Law and other EU environmental measures;
- Increased Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget directed to active farmers and away from ‘land holding’;
- Delivery of an Income Volatility Tax Measure for the agriculture sector to address excessive ‘swings’ in farm income;
- Government and EU plan to reduce farm regulation in the next six months.
The ICMSA said that family farming must be able to deliver an income comparable with other sectors of the economy.
The association wants the EU to legislate to ensure farmers receive a sustainable price for their produce.
It also wants the Agri-Food Regulator to enforce policies which include investigating price differences.
In terms of the dairy sector, the ICMSA has said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, should resume its quarterly publication of the milk testing results carried out by milk processors.
It has also urged that the tuberculosis (TB) programme be reformed and appropriate supports introduced to support farmers impacted by TB.
While the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue recently abandoned plans for a dairy exit scheme, the ICMSA is calling for a proposed reduction/exit scheme to be introduced on a voluntary basis.
The ICMSA election guide also calls for a review of the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme with a payment of €100/head made to calf rearers and €100/head to beef finishers, subject to certain conditions being met.
Another point made by the association to any potential MEPs is that the proposed Mercosur deal should be rejected in full.
It has also called for the nitrates derogation to be renewed in 2026 with “proper consultation” with farm organisations and that there be no further reduction in the organic nitrogen (N) limit.
Some rural points in the guide call for a single state agency to address waterways management and flooding and that garda resources need to be increased.
Environment
The ICMSA also stated in the guide that “climate change needs to acknowledge the sustainability of Irish agriculture relative to global counterparts”.
“European polices – including the proposed Nature Restoration Bill – need to provide farmers with the necessary supports and develop a collaborative model as opposed to coercive or over-regulation of farming,” the association said.
It is calling for a 70% grant based on “up-to-date and realistic reference costings” to be made available to all farmers for all environmentally-related farm investments.
“A review of all EU environmental designations to simplify the restrictions placed on farms designated as SAC, SPA and NHA”, is another point raised by the association.
“We want fair prices. We want action. Politicians who go to farmers’ yards and doors are going to be told that forcefully and straight out,” Drennan concluded.