Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has met with members of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) on the crisis in the pig sector, according to the association.
Pig farmer members of the IFA held a protest in Dublin city centre yesterday (Tuesday, March 29) to draw attention to the massive financial losses for farmers, and to seek a package of financial supports.
The IFA had submitted a request for a €100 million package in conjunction with Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and the Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA).
The plan proposes a “50-50 private-public partnership” to be funded through €50 million of state money, and another €50 million put on a long-term mortgage of €1/pig stretched out over 14 or 15 years.
Speaking to Agriland yesterday, IFA pig chairperson Roy Gallie said he was calling on Minister McConalogue to “give us his decision on how he’s going to approach this industry, because if we do nothing, it will simply disappear, and that will be good for nobody”.
The minister initially met with the protestors yesterday afternoon, where, it is understood, he committed to meet an IFA delegation later in the day.
There has been no announcement yet from either the IFA or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as to what agreement, if any, came out of the meeting yesterday evening.
An IFA statement yesterday confirming that the meeting was taking place did not go so far as to confirm that the protest has been officially stood down. However, is understood that the protest is “paused” to allow for an assessment of anything that might have been agreed yesterday.
Cullinan said yesterday that the “sector’s entire future hangs in the balance and there has to be urgent government action to support pig farmers”.
Gallie highlighted that pig farmers are “caught in a devastating price/cost squeeze”.
“Some farmers have already culled breeding sows and more are suspending production. They cannot produce with losses of over €50/pig and rising,” he stressed.