Future of beef industry ‘hinges on new structures’
He told the association’s 50th annual general meeting in Dublin that the future of the beef industry hinges on new structures and relationships between factories and farmers.
“Put the past behind us. Short-term advantage for factory or farmer is a road to nowhere. Both sides have a huge investment in the beef industry. We are both up against strong international competition,” he said.
Mr Dillon said that with IFA Livestock Committee chairman John Bryan, he was offering the beef trade to take the first step towards building a viable and sustainable industry for farmers and processors.
The IFA leader told the meeting that farmers need government measures to build capacity and be viable for the future.
He said the principal challenge for farmers, IFA, food processors and the Government is to ensure there is a strong viable full-time farming sector going forward.
Mr Dillon urged the Taoiseach to engage with the IFA in developing a programme to achieve farm viability and called for the removal of stamp duty and capital gains tax, where the sale or purchase of land is essential for farm viability.
He said farming with decoupled payments is the greatest change for agriculture in over 30 years. Decoupled payments are there for a very specific reason - to pay for the restrictions and higher standards imposed on European farmers.
Mr Dillon said the message from the annual general meeting was that full-time farming must be profitable, product prices must return a viable margin for efficient farmers and full-time farmers need a sufficient margin to develop, invest and expand.
Warning that the EU’s sugar reform proposals would wipe out the industry here, he urged the Government and EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to defend Ireland’s vital interests in the negotiations.
