Many suckler and sheep farmers ‘making less than the dole’
He said the dole rate for a single person is €188/week or €9,777 per annum, but, according to the Teagasc National Farm Survey estimates for 2013, the average income from suckling is €9,594 and sheep farming is only slightly better at €11,178.
“Farmers in the low income sectors are sick and tired of listening to platitudes from politicians about the importance of our meat exports. The reality is that the show is nearly over for this type of farming unless there is a radical shake-up of how much the farmer gets from the final retail price,” he said.
Mr Kent said farmers in Britain are also getting restless about recent beef price cuts and it is clear the decline in the suckler herd both here and in the UK could gather momentum very quickly.
He said Agriculture, Food and Marine Minister Simon Coveney needs to explain how beef exports can be maintained.
“Increasing exports for the benefit of multinational retailers like Tesco who recently reported almost €4 billion profit is pointless when suckler farmers are getting less than the dole. We cannot allow farmers to be serfs for greedy corporate giants,” he said.
Mr Kent said a lot of suckler farms have been propped up with off-farm income, but increasing taxes and charges and the general economic downturn means there will be less and less opportunity for this.
