In an exclusive interview with Agriland, a former livestock chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and former vice president of the organisation, Derek Deane, has criticised what he believes is the farm organisation’s lack of action on addressing the exodus of farmers from the suckler sector.
The former IFA livestock chair estimates that there are around 65 farmers per week exiting suckler farming, and added that over 65,000 fewer suckler cows were calved in 2023, and questioned why “there’s not a word about it”.
His estimate of 65 farmers a week exiting the sector comes from dividing the drop in 2023 suckler calvings (67,000) by 20 (average herd size), giving the number of farmers that exited in the year and then dividing this figure by 52 weeks.
In the video below, the former IFA livestock chair and suckler/beef farmer on the Carlow/Wicklow border gave his perspective on the current situation:
Commenting on his own situation, he said: “We have been at sucklers and sheep on this farm for the past 35 years and with a heavy heart last year, I got rid of half my suckler herd – the rest of it probably won’t last much longer.”
Continuing, Deane said: “I think it’s a national scandal the way [suckler] farmers are being squeezed out with constant reduction of supports, and a policy of destroying the suckler herd across the country – which is the most vulnerable sector in the most marginal areas.
“Every other member state in Europe is looking after their weaker sectors.
“It’s incredible to believe that last year alone we were down over 65,000 [suckler] cows from the previous year, and we have about 65 farmers per week leaving the business. There’s not a word about it.”
Commenting on why the suckler herd is in such drastic decline in Ireland, Deane said: “I think in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, Ireland took the wrong decisions in that there was a suite of measures we could have went for.
“A coupled payment was one that could have delivered €150 to every animal in the country and about €20/ewe,” he stressed.
Deane has dismissed the notion of the current Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) scheme delivering €150/cow for suckler farmers.
“It’s a spin to say farmers can get €150 or €120/cow, I had a quota of 100 cows and with the SCEP scheme, I ended up with about €115/animal.
“I’m one of the 20% [of suckler farmers] in the scheme. The reality is, these people can’t afford to stay in business. I think it’s a massive mistake politically and environmentally in the long-run for rural Ireland.
“The government policy of allowing the herd to fall down and the farm orgs, particularly IFA, not saying a word about it and the reality is without the support and with the massive increase in costs we had, people can’t afford to stay at it.
Deane outlined that €256 million in funding has been allocated to SCEP over a five-year period, which equates to about €51.2 million/year.
“If you divide that funding across the 760,000 suckler-bred calves that were born in 2023, it equates to €67/ suckler cow nationally.
“We have a world renowned beef industry. It’s based on the suckler herd, it’s sold on the suckler herd, it’s now less than 30% of our production and will be less than 20% in five years the way we’re going, so we will have a mince meat industry going forward.
“The meat industry seem to be happy enough with this and yet every other member state and country want better animals.
“We’ve seen a massive increase in the demand for live shipping, an increase of €1/kg across the board on weanling cattle, and yet Irish farmers can’t afford to stay in,” he stressed.
What should be done?
Deane has said that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, needs to declare what level of sucklers he wants in the country.
He said: “Some people are telling me they want ring of them all, more people are saying they want a half a million [sucklers].
“Half a million would be a very small amount but at any rate, to stabilise the suckler herd we need to put in support.
“Back in the 1990s, when the suckler herds increased, it was by support and by agricultural policies. The policy now is to squeeze it out, and it’s working.
“It’s time Francie Gorman would call a halt to this, and the livestock committee in particular to face up to the reality of the faulty decisions they have made recently. I don’t think they even mention it, and that’s what’s totally disheartening.”