Recently appointed president of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA), Noel Feeney, steps into his two-year term at what is a hugely uncertain and unpredictable period in agriculture and, indeed, the world.
Feeney, a beef and sheep farmer from Croghan, Co. Roscommon took the reins from predecessor, Tom Canning, at the association’s AGM last week.
“We are living in very strange times,” he told Agriland, when we spoke on the day after his appointment.
“In sequence, we have had Brexit and the impact of that; we have had the CAP reform negotiation and the delay in the implementation of the CAP reform for two years; and now we have the war in Ukraine – the ‘bread basket of Europe’ being invaded, and the knock-on effects of that.”
It says a lot about the extent of what is going on that the global pandemic was forgotten about in that list.
Compared to recent developments in Ukraine and the challenges currently facing the agricultural sector, the pandemic almost seems like a distant memory. Almost.
It is the impact of what is happening in Ukraine right now that matters right now.
“On the more global end of it, it is going to affect a country like ours that is so dependent on imports, fuel, energy and meal. It will have a direct impact on all our farmers and farming families, there is no doubt about it. We see that already with the increased prices in fodder, meal, energy costs. It is affecting everyone,” he said.
A clear message
Against this backdrop, it is an important time for the advisory sector – both private and public – to unite and send a clear message to farmers he said.
That message is to ‘talk’ .
“I think the most important thing to tell farmers at the minute is not to panic, or to feel that the situation is going to get any worse,” he said.
“I would advise farmers to talk to their adviser. Dealing with what is happening now is one of the most important things. It is too late if you don’t talk for the next few months, you must talk now and look at your situation.
“Look at what stock you have; look at what fodder reserves you are likely to have. Can you make any adjustments? It might be just little tweaks that you need to make that might make a difference.
“But the important message is do not panic. There is help there and people to talk to,” he said.
With the ACA advising around 55,000 farmers, it is well positioned to help farmers through this time – and the same goes for the CAP-related changes that are coming down the tracks also.
“There will be adjustments [here too], but farmers shouldn’t fear, there is plenty of information out there, they just need to seek advice.”
National level
One of his first engagements as ACA president was to attend the inaugural meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee, which was set up to examine ways to lessen the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on Irish farms in the short-to-medium term.
Does he think it will make a difference?
“It has to make a difference for farmers,” he said.
“It is another tool. It is more at the macro stage, compared to the micro stage at farm level. A lot of decisions will have to be made at that level in conjunction with the government and the EU.
“Again, the message coming from that is not to panic as we look at the things that we can do at farm level and national level. It is important that all members of that committee buy into it and come back with proposals for the chair, and we will take it from there.”
With food security and food production now top of the priority list, is a slight relaxation of some of the measures required of farmers under CAP, for example, a valid request?
“It is a valid request. This is an emergency and we have precedence. We had a fodder crisis in 2018 and, back then, in the GLAS, the rules regarding low input permanent pasture were relaxed, as regards cutting dates, for example,” he said.
“Farmers had flexibility – that is the key word here – they had flexibility to take hay and silage of their low input permanent pasture. Again, that must be looked at,” he said.
“Also, if we want more tillage farmers to grow more grain, we have to look at the three-crop rule in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Now is the time to address that immediately,” he said.
And, he added, pig slurry, which is a far cheaper form of nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, could be considered for use – along with good management, and proper application procedures.
These are short-term actions that could give farmers the flexibility they need to get through this time, he said.
ACA goals
But back to the ACA, what are some of the goals and priorities on the ACA president’s list?
“I want to continue to grow the membership and ensure that our advisers are properly trained, that they have access to training, and that they are fit for purpose for the new CAP reform,” he said.
“The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and EU have a major role to play in that.
“We have a private and a public advisory service and it is important that our advisory service – at no cost to us because we are providing a service that is not costing the tax payer anything – is trained, has free access to training, and free access to any tools or apps that may be required for the different environmental schemes [under CAP].”