'Most farmers already run ragged before taking on new agri-food strategy'
Ireland's Agri-Food 2030 strategy has gone to public consultation and outlines the missions and goals that need to be achieved. File Picture.
A draft Agri-Food Strategy has been presented for consultation by the Department of Agriculture, with interested parties invited to make submissions until June 15.
The strategy’s central objective is that Ireland should become an international leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade.
The sustainability element is further defined as having a balanced approach to economic sustainability, social sustainability (benefits to society) and environmental sustainability (positive or neutral impact on the natural environment).
The document lists a plethora of elements that are unquestionably desirable — environmentally sustainable sector; viable food producers; food that is safe, trusted, and valued; and innovative and competitive food production.
The document maps out missions and goals to be achieved. Case studies are presented, showing what is achievable.
As farmers, our attention is drawn to those elements which most affect us.
The ambitions within the environmental sustainability mission that might affect us at farm level include goals to enhance biodiversity, reduce biogenic methane emissions by 10%, reduce ammonia emissions below 107,500 tonnes by 2030, reduce nutrient losses to water by 50%, and 10% of farmland to be focused on biodiversity.
The document further expands on these targets, suggesting biogenic methane reduction of 24-47% by 2050. It doesn’t mention reducing the national herd up to 2030, but reducing methane 24-47% without reducing stock numbers seems a tall order.
Other ambitions include a reduction in annual chemical nitrogen use, not to exceed 325,000 tonnes by 2030, and 90% of all slurry application by low emission equipment by 2027. All external slurry stores are to be covered by 2027, to mitigate ammonia emissions, and most CAN nitrogen usage replaced by urea and protected urea.
A 90% increase in milk recording by 2030 is the aim.
Overall, for intensive farming, it looks like the brakes will be coming on.
On improving the viability of farms, the document suggests farmers move towards ‘premiumisation’, and diversification of activity and income streams.
The document fails to acknowledge that direct payments have been decoupled for nearly two decades at this point, and whilst every farmer can now switch production to more lucrative enterprises, the reality on the ground is that the number of farmers producing niche, premium products barely registers.
With such products, the power of the supermarkets in deciding to take or drop your product, the lack of scale, the costs of establishment, the costs of specialist equipment and storage, the lack of marketing skills, and not enough existing farm cash flow to effect such change, all conspire to leave farmers stuck in the loop of subsistence.
It’s better to make a meagre existence from continuing to do as we have always done rather than risking the entire farm to chase a dream that may not come to fruition.
Unless real financial supports become available to aid change, a move to diversification will not happen.
In the strategy document, farmers are also tasked with improving competitiveness and productivity.
Farmers will live in hope of the draft document’s aspiration that equitable distribution of value is shared along the food chain.
The critic in me suggests we should not need to wait until 2030 before increased value is passed back to the farmer.
Meanwhile, expecting farmers to increase productivity and competitiveness is bordering on offensive, the underlying assertion being that there is more to give.
Most farmers are already run ragged.
And expecting increased productivity becomes a much harder ask when we consider the changes coming in the next decade, such as curtailing antibiotic usage, restricting fertiliser usage, withdrawing key chemicals (such as glyphosate, probably) and increasing the land area devoted to biodiversity.
Within the mission to create food which is safe, nutritious, trusted and valued at home and abroad, are goals to create value-add in food through insight, innovation and product differentiation, and to develop market opportunities at home and abroad.
While these goals are not within an individual farmer’s remit, they are intrinsically linked to the price that farmers will get for their product.
In the world of commodity based farming, farmers will only ever get enough to keep their heads above water.
Right now, that seems to be predominantly where Irish farmers are at.
Yet, our main products are world class beef and milk high in health benefits such as conjugated linoleic acids and Omega 3, thanks for our grass based systems.
Are our national campaigns and individual processors doing enough to differentiate these top notch products as being healthier and more sustainable that competitors?
Ultimately, setting ourselves apart from our competitors by extolling our green and sustainable credentials will only be of benefit to farmers if the processors in-between decide to pass back a share of the benefits from the markets.
Farmers may have some hope of getting their fair share if they continue to champion the co-operative model, and by organising themselves into producer groups.
The strategy document is very comprehensive and worth a read, especially for farmers who anticipate a tipping point at which they will no longer be satisfied to just eke out a living.
- Chartered tax adviser Kieran Coughlan, Belgooly, Co Cork.
- (www.coughlanaccounting.com)
Read More
