The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that it is reserving its position on the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group report due to what it describes as the lack of concrete commitments around funding for the measures.
The group published its final report yesterday (Wednesday, November 30), which puts forward nine direct measures that could be adapted by the sectors to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Included in the report are two options to reduce the number of suckler cows in the country.
The ICSA said it does not support measures that lead to reduced output, in the absence of a coherent plan to support viable suckler, beef and sheep systems.
The association said it will only engage further if there is a commitment from the relevant ministers (agriculture, climate and public expenditure) to sit down with the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group to negotiate a way forward.
Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group
According to the ICSA, the report provides no reassurances that the government wants to see the suckler, sheep and beef sectors prosper or stabilise.
In a statement the ICSA said: “Instead, it represents a set of ideas put forward exclusively by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and therefore is essentially an internal document, to which stakeholders have been given an opportunity to comment but not to negotiate.”
The association said that it understands the challenges posed by the demands for climate change action and the need to further develop our international reputation as a supplier of leading quality meat and dairy.
The success of farmers in working through the financial crash and growing agri-food exports to €15.4 billion cannot be sacrificed, according to the ICSA, which means that only win-win solutions should be included in a coherent strategy.
“It is evident that this report, and the wider Climate Action Plan is meaningless without a financial framework,” the ICSA statement continued.
“No sector is being asked to do as much per capita as some 100,000 livestock farmers, yet all other sectors have access to funding either in terms of subsidies to consumers or grant aid to companies.
“In all other cases, the burden will be shared either by the taxpayer or by passing on costs to consumers or both. Further engagement will only work with all the relevant ministers at the negotiating table.”
The association stressed that no plan would be acceptable unless the economic viability of sucklers, beef and sheep is addressed in a comprehensive manner.
Pathway towards agreement
The ICSA has made the following key demands as a pathway towards an agreed plan:
- Must address the outcomes needed to make beef viable again or else the entire dairy sector will become untenable. Price of beef is central to this, particularly for winter finishing, but it will also depend on appropriate supports;
- Additional funding needed to drive on the Suckler Premium Strategy. This must entail leveraging the significant level of DNA data already available as a plan to authenticate Irish suckler grass-fed beef and drive a higher return from the marketplace. A feasibility study should be conducted into opportunities for farmers to sell beef under a suckler brand through the mechanism of a co-op structure with a view to shareholders retaining value throughout the food chain. Farmers will also require a commitment from the beef processing industry to work with this strategy;
- The suckler scheme, backed by €28 million announced in the budget, must be delivered in 2023 and the proposal by ICSA for earlier-calving funding should be seen as an addition to that scheme – we want to see three support packages for sucklers that will equate to at least €300/cow;
- Importance of sheep farming must be considered. Sheep farming is the vital enterprise on a lot of marginal land and hill areas and must be supported more. Sheep farming is complementary to beef farming systems and can actually make some farms more sustainable, bringing both environmental (weed control, better utilisation of pasture, less winter housing) and economic benefits – the €12/ewe must be radically reviewed.