Sheep farming has been the sector hardest hit by the consequences of Brexit, according to the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA).
The farming organisation has renewed its call on the government to use the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) fund to “rescue” the sector which has been hit by low prices and spiralling input costs.
The association is campaigning for a portion of the BAR fund to be used for a €50 million emergency support package for sheep farmers to cover 2023 and 2024.
On February 28, the ICSA held a protest outside the gates of Leinster House where it sought support from all political parties for the country’s sheep farmers.
ICSA
ICSA Sheep Committee chair Sean McNamara said that it is vital that politicians and consumers support the sheep farmers.
“The sector is in crisis, and nobody should be turning a blind eye to what is going on.
“Our margin per ewe has been all but wiped out having dropped over 80% in 2022 and languishing at just €7/head.
“There is also zero optimism that things will improve at all during 2023. For any package to have a real impact it must therefore cover 2023 and 2024,” he said.
The ICSA sheep chair said that the repercussions of Brexit have been “hugely detrimental” to the income of sheep farmers.
“Sheep farmers have always been amongst the lowest earners and therefore are the least able to withstand outside forces chipping away at their income. Brexit is one of those forces and it has left sheep farmers in an even more vulnerable position.
“Sheep farmers have definitely been hardest hit by Brexit consequences,” he said.
Brexit
McNamara explained that prior to Brexit the EU agreed to take in up to 228,000 tons of New Zealand lamb at zero tariff rate.
“This was very much at the behest of the UK who wanted the lamb and who wanted to help their Commonwealth allies in New Zealand.
“After Brexit, it could be argued that the majority of that quota should have moved with the UK. Instead, it was split 50/50 between the UK and the EU-27.
“The UK has just concluded a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand which commits them to another 35,000 tonnes of New Zealand lamb tariff free (for the first four years) rising to 50,000 tonnes thereafter.
“This reinforces the point that the UK should have taken a bigger share of the original EU quota. Instead, we are seeing New Zealand imports to both Europe and UK rising significantly,” he said.
The ICSA Sheep chair added that Brexit has resulted in the devaluation of the Euro against sterling which has made it difficult for Irish producers to compete with imports.
Speaking recently in the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar acknowledged the difficulties facing sheep farmers but appeared to rule out using the BAR fund.
“To use the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, one needs to be able to prove to the European Commission that Brexit is the reason prices are low and input costs are high. That would be a very difficult thing to prove.
“Unfortunately, we are finding great difficulty being able to meet the tests to draw down money from that fund,” he said.
The Taoiseach added that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue will carefully consider the views from the Food Vision sheep group which met recently for the first time.
“He will continue to keep the market situation under review and see if there is more we can do to help sheep farmers,” Varadkar said.