It was pointed out to me by a number of people over Christmas that the shortened form of Climate Action Plan is CAP, so it will be interesting to see how journalists and the media in general deal with the ‘double jobbing’ acronym as 2023 unfolds.
CAP has referred to Common Agricultural Policy for years.
I sense, though, that such will be the least of our worries as the New Year gains momentum.
Most farmers will look back on 2022 as a very positive 12-month period.
Yes, input costs increased significantly and the early months of the year were marked by tremendous speculation regarding the actual availability of fertiliser – never mind the prices that would be paid for it.
However, the two bellwether criteria that truly define the prospects for agriculture in this part of the world – the weather and farmgate prices – held up well.
So, is it possible that 2023 could evolve on a similar basis? Only time will tell.
Food prices in 2023
Hopefully, one of the legacies from the cost of living crisis that has enveloped the entire world over recent months will be consumers’ sense of the true value that is represented by the food that they eat.
For most of my life, food commodity prices have been on a downward spiral.
This trend has been almost totally responsible for putting countless numbers of farm businesses to the wall, not just here but around the world.
Farmers don’t want to see the likes of milk, beef, lamb and cereals become ‘de facto’ luxury items for consumers.
But primary producers do deserve a fair return for the investment they make within their businesses. So, surely, it’s not too much to expect that retail food prices should be allowed to rise in line with inflation.
There is little doubt that 2023 will see real action taken to start reducing the carbon footprint of Irish agriculture
Yes, the year ahead will be one of significant change for farming in Ireland. But better this than total stagnation, I say.
The last 12 months have seen food security becoming a core political issue in every country around the world. A growing global population must be fed. And let’s hope that farmers here in Ireland will be tasked with the challenge of making this happen.