IFA draws up its Budget wishlist

The IFA have forwarded their pre-Budget submission to the Department of Finance. It outlines how farmer income has fallen for cattle and sheep farming in the past 12 months, despite the increase in commodity prices in 2013.

But the report highlights the importance of farming to the national economy. It contributed €10bn of exports in 2013, and significant employment growth.

The submission marks the drop in beef prices for 2014 as a major loss of confidence for producers; the previous year’s submission highlighted the need to support the national suckler herd — one year on and the plight of the suckler farmer is more perilous.