‘No viable living’ in sheep farming now

Wed, 18 Jan, 2023 - 16:38

Kathleen O'Sullivan

There is “no viable living” in sheep farming as things stand, a farm organisation has warned, as it said that farmers “urgently need answers” as to what supports will be forthcoming as prices are “plummeting”.

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association’s sheep chair, Sean McNamara, said this week that farmers “need help”, as prices dipping further and further is a “travesty when you consider how much our input costs have gone up”.

Mr McNamara said that the sector “is in crisis”, and that “it’s about time the Government acknowledge this”.

“This time last year we were getting €7.30 per kg; to survive this year we need at least a euro more than that but now we are hearing of prices going as low as €5.80/kg [this week],” he said.

This month, the Sheep Improvement Scheme closed to applications, with 19,165 farmers having applied.

Farmers get €12 per breeding ewe for completing flock welfare measures in the scheme.

The payment rate is €2 more than that in the Sheep Welfare Scheme, which the new scheme replaces, with Mr McNamara describing the increase as enough for “sweets for a child”, he told the Irish Examiner.

Mr McNamara said that the rates “were not attractive enough” in the new scheme.

'No viable living'

He added that, with the way prices are for lambs at the moment, he knows of farmers not going into the scheme “because they don’t know what way they’re going forward, what amount of ewes they want to keep”.

He said the sheep industry “is in dire straits at the moment”.

Mr McNamara said that there is “no viable living for farmers anymore on sheep” unless the situation improves.

He stressed the need for a “fair price” for farmers’ products.

“A fair price is one that covers our cost of production at the very least,” he said.

“This should not be too much to ask for when we are producing a top-quality, nutritious product. However, the reality is that we are further away from a fair price than ever.”