Farmers seek ombudsman amid demise of commercial veg sector

IFA has reiterated its call for a ban on below-cost selling, seeking for this to be 'enshrined into Irish law and regulated by the new food regulator office'

'We are losing growers from the industry because they cannot continue to endure the measures.'

It is estimated there are fewer than 100 commercial vegetable growers in Ireland, compared to about 350 in 2010, the Oireachtas heard this week.

The decrease, according to Irish Farmers’ Association president Tim Cullinan, can be almost exclusively attributed to the reducing price being paid by the big retail buyers to their suppliers, forcing more and more of them out of business".