President of the IFA ‘needs to step up’

SLIGO members of the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA) are calling on their President Joe Healy to tackle the Minister for Agriculture of the current crises affecting the farming sector.

Eddie Davitt, Rural Development Officer for the IFA in Sligo, says the President of the IFA must step up to the plate and tackle Minister Michael Creed on issues such as the financial crisis, fodder crisis and the crisis affecting suckler farmers.

At last week’s AGM of the Sligo IFA, it was claimed that only six people in the region received fodder assistance, despite the government announcing a scheme earlier in the year that would help alleviate the problem for farmers.

“There is a financial crisis in the region,” Mr. Davitt told The Sligo Champion. “The costs of meal bills have nearly doubled for farmers. The Minister is refusing to acknowledge that. There were two meetings in Sligo with Department officials and leading organisations but the Minister has ignored everything we asked for,” continued Mr. Davitt.

Mr. Davitt claims that the Beef Genomic Scheme has damaged the suckler herd for farmers.

This comes after the Department of Agriculture informed hundreds of farmers their herds would not meet required breeding standards.

Farmers would lose 40pc of their total payment under the six-year €300m Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) if they do not have enough high-genetic animals in their herd.

“The Minister is ignoring the people of the West. The suckler has been the life and soul of the West of Ireland. This scheme has the potential to wipe out the suckler population in Ireland,” added Mr. Davitt.

He went on to claim that most of the 100-150 cows sold at each mart in the region are given a ‘one way ticket’ to the slaughterhouse.