Forget all you ever heard about one more cow, one more acre under the plough
Enterprises were chosen and operated to maximise premia. More and more, returns from the market failed to cover production costs, but premia payments kept farming going.
Now, EU support payments are no longer linked to production, under the decoupling system. The new advice to farmers is produce for profit only, supply the quality and quantity which the market requires, and measure success or failure by the profit margin. That’s the same advice for both the winners and the losers in a new direct payments system which is stacked with anomalies.
And the advice must be heeded immediately, as big decisions for 2005 are being made already by cattle, sheep and tillage farmers. Buying the extra bullock, keeping a few more ewes, or tilling an additional acre to qualify for a premium, is no longer an option.
The direct payment cheque will come next December (at the earliest), regardless of what the farm produces. Who wants the additional work of feeding and caring for livestock, or tilling the land, perhaps to lose money. There are easier and more enjoyable ways to get rid of surplus cash. Don’t be like the farmer in the joke who won the Lotto, but said he’d continue farming until all the money was gone.
Production plans made now for 2005 are critical to success in a new era. Straight away, you need critical advice on farm planning in 2005. The national advisory service, Teagasc, faces a major challenge in putting clear facts on production costs and expectations of market returns before all farmers in the weeks ahead.
But the final decisions must be made by the farmer. And for those who choose to ignore advice and proceed to burn a hole in their single payment cheque, there will be no point in blaming anyone but themselves at the end of the year.
