Sean Dennehy has said that he can’t see why market conditions won’t remain strong for 2022, in what has been a “solid year for sheep prices”.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Sheep Committee chair spoke to Agriland to reflect on the sheep sector for 2021.
Looking at sheep prices first, Sean said: “From a price perspective, it was a solid year with prices averaging €7.33/kg, up €1.48/kg on the 2020 average price [or +27%].
“Despite the ongoing impact of various levels of Covid-19 restrictions, sales of sheepmeat held up well.
“Markets were also helped by the significantly reduced volumes of New Zealand lamb imported to the EU and the UK, running at the lowest levels recorded in decades as issues with transport and availability of product due to the demand from China, curtailed imports to the EU.
“Lamb prices in all the key lamb producing countries have remained strong throughout the year helping underpin our prices.
“Stronger lamb throughput in recent weeks has brought the spring lamb kill to 5,399 head [up to week ending December 11] above the same period in 2020 which points towards reduced volumes into the new year.”
Sheep Welfare Scheme
Touching on the Sheep Welfare Scheme (SWS), Sean said that the updated reference periods for the 2021 and 2022 SWS have seen increased numbers of ewes eligible for payment (by over 200,000), requiring additional funding of €2 million a year for the scheme.
He added: “The updated reference periods recognised for the first time need to provide additional flexibility to new entrants to the sector when establishing reference numbers to allow time to establish their flock while participating in the schemes.
“The new reference periods for the scheme provide established flocks with the higher of 2017, or the original 2014/2015 reference years, for payment calculations with new entrants provided with 2019.”
No dogs allowed
Sean outlined farmers’ frustration with the lack of government intervention to address the ongoing issue of dog attacks on sheep.
During the year he said farmer frustration reached a new level and the IFA Sheep Committee launched a ‘No dogs allowed’ campaign to further highlight the seriousness of the situation.
The campaign gained traction in the media and is a critical step in the process to get government to put in place the appropriate legislation and controls for dog owners according to the IFA.
Sheep Improvement Scheme
Sean Dennehy said sheep farmers are extremely disappointed with the proposed funding for the new Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
He said: “We [the IFA] have clearly set out the need for a €30/ewe payment for sheep farmers.
“The proposed new scheme will provide €12/ewe and with the funding levels announced, it will not be adequate to pay on all of the ewes in the current scheme. The Minister for Agriculture must come forward with additional funding to directly support sheep farmers.
“Despite numerous announcements by government of funding to identify alternative outlets for wool, very little has happened in this area.
“The minister had the opportunity to support farmers for the collapse in the wool market by including shearing in the SWS, this would take away farmers exposure to the market difficulties and support farmers in providing a sustainable, environmentally friendly product with multiple potential uses onto the market, in optimum condition for further processing and value added.”
Electronic Transfer of Funds (EFT)
The IFA committee chairman also highlighted calls from sheep farmers for factories to provide the option to farmers to receive payments by electronic transfer of funds (EFT).
Sean explained: “With the closures of rural bank branches throughout the country, this well-established means of payment must be provided to sheep farmers.”
Dennehy said he met with Meat Industry Ireland (MII) on this issue and has raised it directly with all sheep processing factories.
Quality Assurance
On the issue of quality assurance of sheep farms, Sean said the IFA succeeded in having the requirement removed from the proposed SIS as this is a market requirement and should be rewarded directly from the market place.
He added: “The key issue is the current bonus is not enough for most sheep farmers to take on another inspection on their farms. If the industry is serious about quality assurance, then the bonus for QA lamb must increase to at least 30c/kg.”
Producer groups / organisations
Commenting on the role of producer groups in the sheep sector, Sean said these groups have played a central role in maintaining the numbers of farmers in sheep, in particular the smaller scale producers.
He said: “Running these groups is no easy task and has taken huge commitment from members of the groups over the years.
“The support proposed in the new CAP for producer organisations must be readily available to these established groups to help in the ongoing running and management of them.
“There also needs to be more transparency provided around weekly lamb prices and it needs to be brought more in line with the information available on the beef side.
“This would be of enormous benefit to all sheep farmers and would be of major benefit to the groups in establishing accurate weekly reference prices.”
Looking to 2022 market conditions
Turning to 2022, Sean said there is no reason market conditions won’t remain strong for sheepmeat and it is critical this finds its way directly back to farmers.
He said the sheep sector will always be heavily dependent on direct supports and the target of a €30/ewe payment must remain the objective.