Agriland attended the Irish Farmers’ Association’s 68th annual general meeting this week in the Irish Farm Centre, to hear representatives, members and ministers from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine debate topical issues across the various farming sectors. 

Opening the event, president Tim Cullinan said “it is a challenging time for Irish farming” which has been fueled by the illegal war in Ukraine, soaring input costs, inflation, eroded support payments and climate change. 

He told delegates that the agricultural industry “is the economic bedrock of the rural economy” yet it is not getting credit for this, and instead is “vilified” for its role in climate change. 

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue delivered the keynote speech before he and his departmental colleagues, junior ministers Pippa Hackett and Martin Heydon, faced questions from committee chairs and farmers on the floor.