‘Farming sectors must come together for common good’
FARMERS have been urged to put sectoral differences to one side and work collectively to address the common challenges facing them.
In an obvious reference to the difficulties that have surfaced between dairy and beef farmers recently, Mairead McGuinness MEP warned that divisions between farmers would be exploited by others.
“I would urge farmers to find common ground across the sectors and not allow divisions deepen and weaken the collective voice of farming and rural areas,” the vice-president of the European Parliament told a recent Boyne Valley Lamb Producer Group annual dinner.
“This is a difficult issue with no simple solution — a recogni- tion of the pressures different sectors face is essential, and we need an open and frank conversation about what we want for our farms for the future.”
Observing that these internal pressures between the various farm sectors were exacerbated by low prices, Ms McGuinness said EU legislation to stop unfair trading practices is in the pipeline.
“This should be a wake-up call to the powerful in the food chain to act responsibly and ethically in their treatment of the primary producer,” she said.
However, the MEP insisted that farmers must work together to get the best possible terms for their produce from the marketplace.
Ms McGuinness said that while individual farmers lacked power, farmers working collec- tively could influence returns, and also provide support to each other.
On proposed reform of the CAP, she said threats to the budget are real and the comments from the EU Court of Auditors questioning the effectiveness of direct payments will fuel opposition to the EU farm policy.
Climate action
“The big issue in the reforms is environmental delivery and climate action,” she said.
“Every farmer I speak with is adamant that they do not go out to harm the environment and in fact would value help and support to make their farms more environmentally sustainable.”
However, she said financial sustainability is also a key issue for many farm families, with the direct support system contributing a significant, and sometimes total share, of the farm income.
“Reforming the policy must be done with the difficult, but not impossible, task of sustaining the family farm and enhancing environmental delivery. And all sectors of farming must deliver on this,” Ms McGuinness said.
The extent of the income pressures on family farms was reflected in what Ms McGuinness described as “an invisible restructuring taking place”, with meat factories renting cattle yards and tillage land being farmed, not by the farmer, but by the merchant.
“These developments are unsettling and are the subject of quiet conversations countrywide,” she said.