ICMSA demand Dairy Board shares
Pat O'Rourke, president, made the call in his address to the annual general meeting of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association in Limerick.
Stressing that farmers should take firm control of the Irish Dairy Board, he said they will be better able to control their destiny if they control the levers of marketing.
"I would strongly urge all dairy co-op directors to insist on their co-ops giving direct farmer shareholding in the IDB," he said.
Mr O'Rourke, whose six years as ICMSA president ends later this month, warned the Government that implementation of 'the insanity' of the nitrates directive could lead to a legal challenge.
He said it would seem that Environment Minister Dick Roche is determined to bring in a piece of legislation which will have the most adverse effects on thousands of farm families.
Sharply criticising the European Union's management of agricultural and food policies, he said any objective observer would struggle to identify a rational pattern to the EU approach.
Mr O'Rourke said most, if not all, EU governments subscribe to the European model of agriculture and then do precisely nothing to bring it about or worse still bring in policies that will undermine its very existence.
Pointing out that the European model of agriculture is not a mystery, he said it means a system of farming based on family-run holdings that gave an adequate return to the investment of capital, management and labour.
"Matters have now come to a crunch. We either give up on the pretence of a European model of agriculture, or we seriously work towards bringing it about. And we do that without any apologies to our American friends," he said.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan told the 200 delegates at the meeting in Limerick Racecourse, that she is not prepared to sacrifice agriculture at the WTO talks in Hong Kong next week to achieve a less than satisfactory outcome.
When the 2003 CAP reforms were agreed, farmers signed up on the basis that they would provide a stable operating environment up to 2013 and they are entitled to that stability, she said.
