Confidence against the odds
He has taken the Food Harvest 2020 plan to increase farm output by 33% and food exports by 42%, and built up Irish self-belief that these ambitious targets can be achieved in a debt-laden country which has to pay back up to €7 billion per year to our bailout lenders.
Like the coach of an underdog team, Coveney has awakened the fighting spirit in the industry — no mean achievement, whatever the eventual outcome.
There’s no element of pulling the wool over the industry’s eyes either. Instead, Coveney is realistic about the obstacles, and acknowledges that plans will have to be adjusted along the way to cope with inevitable snags and setbacks.
He has warned the industry of “unpalatable” cuts in the December budget due to the scrimping and savings necessary to continue the existing schemes for farmers and processors.
He has overseen the raising of a beef production target from 20% to 40%, because there has already been a 10% increase in the output value of beef, as beef prices rose internationally. On the other hand, if there were a collapse in prices, we would be obliged to revise targets downwards, Coveney has said.
But there are also positives to be accentuated, and to build the belief that with the luck of the Irish, our food industry can prosper amid economic crisis.
Coveney sees it as a huge positive that Ireland, as holder of the EU presidency in the first half of 2013, is in a very influential position for negotiating reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, which largely control and fund our agriculture and marine sectors.
It is also seen as a good omen that the issue of food security has moved up the food chain among European politicians. Investment to ensure the continent can feed itself is becoming a higher priority against the background of unsustainable levels of food imports. Many of the countries from which the EU imports will experience food crises in the not too distant future, Coveney said.
This is part of the thinking behind the latest European Commission proposals, which would see Ireland maintain most of the Agricultural Policy payments it gets up to 2020.
Coveney believes the Commission is moving towards farmers getting two-thirds of their single farm payment automatically, and the remaining third if they abide by certain environmental standards. The hope is that what many Irish farmers already do for the environment will qualify them for the full payment. For example, a dairy farmer protects the environment by maintaining permanent pasture, or a tillage farmer by growing a break crop.
With the country swimming in debt, Coveney does not deny that financing food-sector progress is problematic, and that every small- and medium-size enterprise in the state is experiencing finance problems.
He says the EU must plan for and finance a dramatic investment programme to deal with the increased volumes of milk that will come its way, perhaps before 2015 and certainly after it.
Few farmers can access bank funding, but Coveney says there is increasing acknowledgement of this among both Irish-owned banks and foreign banks, including RaboDirect, which is one of the largest agricultural banks in the world and is seeking to increase significantly its share of the Irish market.
As a result, the Agriculture Minister expects to see funding made available for viable agricultural projects.
One thing is sure — there is no way forward for a demotivated industry. But if there is a can-do attitude and leadership, a team can go places, and Coveney has already achieved that much.
