Irish fury over feedstuff imports
With echoes of Scottish grain growers campaigning to tie down whisky distillers to only use cereals grown in this country, Irish farmers are now on the rampage over their feed mills using imported grain.
While the “use Scottish cereals” campaign has stuttered over the years in the face of the powerful drinks distilling lobby, the Irish are using their green policies to aid their campaign.
Irish Farmers Association grain committee chair Mark Browne said that Irish tillage farmers were furious over the continued failure of many animal feed merchants to use local barley.
“Many growers are left with stores full of barley due to the importation of feed ingredients,” he said.
Accordingtofiguresfrom Eurostat, Ireland imported 157,000 tonnes of non-eu maize in January alone, with Canada, Ukraine and Russia the main sources. Browne pointed out that if even a fraction of these imports was reduced in favour of native Irish barley, it would alleviate the immediate problem.
“It is inexcusable that merchants would ship feed half way around the world and not buy Irish grain which is on their own doorstep,” he said.
He added that cereal farmers were incensed that these non-eu countries, which did not have equivalent standards on sustainability, the environment or genetically modified organisms, have displacednativebarleyinlivestock rations.
He then said it was time to examine the specifics of the various sustainability
schemes operating across the Irish agriculture sector.
He highlighted Origin Green, Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme which proclaims the importance of local sustainable sourcing, reducing the carbon footprint and serving local communities.
Browne questioned if shunning Irish barley in favour of importing maize produced to lower environmental standards, over vast distances, was compatible with the sustainability principles of the programme. He wanted all stakeholders in the animal feed sector, including the government to address the issue immediately by supporting the inclusion of local grain in feed rations.