Farmers not the priority for this Government
That figure was quoted by Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny in the Dáil two weeks ago. Since then figures have been slashed to 113,0000 he said.
Last week a report put the number of full-time farmers at just over 40,000.
Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan rejected the findings of the report, commissioned by her department, which painted a much worse picture of the situation than Mr Kenny.
One of the report’s authors, the ex-head of Teagasc, Dr Liam Downey, said he stood over the figures adding that at best only a about 10,000 full-time farmers will be still on the land by 2025.
In a paper a few years back he made similar predictions and the most recent report did no more than confirm his worst fears.
In the context of the flight from the land, Mr Kenny told the Dáil the proposed tariff cuts of up to 60% mooted by EU commissioner Peter Mandelson would cause further havoc for Irish agriculture.
Taking up that theme, beef baron Larry Goodman walked into Ms Coughlan’s office last week with the IFA by his side to express his concerns about the latest WTO talks.
What these findings highlight is the growing pressure on primary producers and on processors.
Mr Goodman is hardly facing starvation as he will get €500,0000 per annum from direct payments from Brussels under the new decoupling scheme.
But there is no doubt farmers are coming under increasing pressure and the countryside is facing enormous change, as it has since the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy started to take hold.
Regrettably the flight from the land is becoming a foot note to the rapid changes taking place at consumer level in most modern societies.
The talk now is of the food selling opportunities available to Irish food processors and the very critical demands coming from consumers about what they are prepared to eat and drink.
In Dublin last Thursday, Bord Bia talked about the massive opportunities open to the food sector. Last year €250 million of Irish meats and other foods was sold to Sainsbury’s alone.
That figure is closer to €500m if subsidiaries of Irish firms based in Britain are included.
Sainsbury’s trading director, Mike Coupe, said that could reach €1 billion over the next five years.
He said his experience of Irish firms since joining Sainbury’s 12 months ago has been excellent.
He said organic food supplies cannot keep up with demand in his stores indicating a gap to be filled by farmers enterprising enough to take up that challenge instead of bemoaning the removal of EU tariffs.
Bord Bia’s PERIscope (Purchasing and Eating in the Republic of Ireland) was centre stage at last week’s event when it introduced 80 suppliers to what’s going on in global markets.
Its research showed an increasing shift in consumer demand for products that boost personal health and well being. That trend is reflected also by an increasing desire among people to eat healthier foods such as fruit and vegetables.
The consumer is the new fetish and the flight from the land goes unnoticed.
Another loss as the consumer is given primacy of place in the new economic order will be the corner shop.
Several players in the industry have made that point since the Government’s decision to allow predatory pricing.
The latest is David Dilger, boss of food group Greencore, who yesterday warned of the death of the corner shop.
Mr Coupe made the same point last week as did Liam Igoe, food analyst with Goodbody Stockbrokers, in his review of the lifting of the below cost selling ban.
Regrettably farmers are a much lower priority category than consumers in this Government’s plans.
