New IFA leadership must heed the calls of grassroots farmers

NEVER before did those vying for the IFA presidency face such an enormous challenge.

All sectors of Irish farming are on their collective knees and the future of this once proud industry, which was the mainstay and backbone of the national economy, is now imperilled.

The demise of family farming in Ireland would not only have a devastating effect on those directly involved - the farming community itself - but it would also ravage the wider rural communities who depend on a thriving family farm sector for their sustenance.