Breeders ready for new era

IRISH livestock breeders are ready for the new farming era, said Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president, John Deegan, at last Sunday’s AIB National Livestock Show in Tullamore.

At the event, IFA president John Dillon warned that CAP decoupling will radically change the economies of livestock production, requiring higher livestock prices.

And ICMSA president Pat O'Rourke predicted that the country's suckler herd of 1.1 million cows will decline dramatically unless the income position of calf and weanling producers is protected.