This morning (February 5), AgriLand learned that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has begun focusing on targeted EU financial aids for the beef sector, rather than on intervention, in the event of a hard (no-deal) Brexit.

And, while some farm organisations don’t believe the move goes far enough to deal with the severity of the beef crisis, overall most groups appear to agree on one thing – that targeted payments “could work more effectively” to alleviate the levels of uncertainty circulating within the sector as the UK’s departure from the EU looms just seven weeks away.

However, specific questions over the level of potential aid that would be needed to protect individual primary producers if the country’s nearest exporting neighbour crashes out of the EU without a withdrawal agreement are now being asked of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.

Also Read: Emergency intervention for beef ‘sidelined’ as focus shifts to ‘targeted payment’

Here are the thoughts of the country’s farm lobby groups in response to today’s developments.

ICMSA

Speaking to AgriLand, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) said that, while direct aid is “preferential” over intervention because it is paid directly to the primary producer, the key issue at stake is the level of aid and who gets it.

The organisation’s president Pat McCormack said that token aid would “simply not be acceptable” and pointed to the importance of realising that beef producers from calf, weanling, store and finished cattle, would potentially take a hit.

Therefore, he added, aid needs to be structured at a level so that all farmers were adequately compensated.

“The priority should be to maintain our existing markets for beef rather than using intervention which is currently at a very low and completely unrealistic price level; to achieve this, the management of tariffs and the use of funds collected from these need to be carefully and fairly managed. Intervention, however, cannot be completely ruled out depending on developments,” McCormack added.

He went on to say there needs to be a sufficient budget and therefore funds collected from tariffs should be utilised so as to ensure that farmers are supported properly.

To us direct aid demonstrates that the EU is acutely aware of the vulnerability of the Irish beef sector, which has to be a good thing.

He added: “Confidence in this sector has been lacking for several years now – regardless of Brexit – and farmers’ confidence will only be restored when beef prices lift; what farmers really need is certainty of markets delivering a price that makes beef production profitable – and at present that is not attainable.”

IFA

Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Livestock Committee chairman Angus Woods said the department’s latest focus on direct aid is what the association had been pointing to for months now.

“We have taken the position that a financial aid package has been what is needed all along; for every 5c/kg drop, €20 is needed. We have been targeting this and it is good to hear that the minister is coming round to this way of thinking,” added Woods.

He also pointed to the fact that intervention is “tricky” and therefore targeted payments to deal with the beef crisis is the most appropriate way in which to deal with matters.

“The implications of Brexit on the beef sector are massive and the uncertainty out there has all been caused by Brexit.

“We need a stronger and more coordinated response by Government and by the minister, and the EU Commission needs to step in and supply the necessary help for farmers,” Woods concluded.

ICSA

Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) president Patrick Kent said the organisation had been calling for private storage for the best part of a year.

“It needs to be brought up to price of course and we all have to be realistic about production levels,” Kent continued.

He added: “Farmers’ incomes have to be protected; there are other options in the labour market now and farmers are just going to leave the industry altogether and move onto something else.”

Beef Plan Movement

Eamon Corley of the Beef Plan Movement said the time has come for Minister Creed to sit down with farmers and “confront” the problems.

“Really the minister has to confront the problems and sit down with farmers; throwing a little bit of money at farmers is not going to wash at this stage. We also need new markets opened up,” he added.

Corley went on to say that, while the minister appears to be focused on EU targeted aid, no figures have yet been mentioned, and he also pointed to the fact that intervention would only work if introduced in a meaningful way.

The reality is that when it comes to direct aid the farmers would need the difference between the prices now and the prices on the corresponding period last year.

“Some of the Brexit factor has already been introduced because if the Government was serious about direct aid it would need to be backdated to October 2018,” he remarked.

No-deal scenario

Meanwhile, in a statement to AgriLand, the department said that, last month, the European Commission affirmed that EU law provided for a variety of instruments to cope with the most immediate effects of the withdrawal of the UK – particularly in a no-deal scenario.

It stated that Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation provided for a variety of market supports that could offer a limited safety net for commodity products.

These include: intervention aids; private storage; and exceptional aid measures in order to manage serious market disturbances.

BEEF BREXIT