Creed talks the talk – farmers now expect him to walk the walk

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed presented to the IFA executive council on Tuesday of this week. It was an impressive performance for someone only appointed to the post just over two months ago.

Speaking largely without notes, he demonstrated a strong understanding and, perhaps more importantly, an appreciation of the wide range of challenges currently facing Irish farmers.

Perhaps with the luxury of having been able to observe the rollout of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) from the sidelines, Minister Creed is certainly bringing a more inclusive approach to the new €25m sheep scheme. His comments that the scheme will reflect the different management requirements between hill and lowland flocks will be welcomed. While he reassured farmers that EID tagging would not be a mandatory part of the scheme, he did not shy away from potential challenges that lie ahead on this issue.

As the sheep sector looks to develop export markets outside the EU, there is no doubt that tagging and traceability are going to become a bargaining chip in negotiations around market access. Creed alluded to this as a possible barrier to gaining access to the US market.

Beef

On the beef side, his first big test will be on Thursday when he tries to reignite a beef forum in which most farmers have lost confidence. Again, he appeared to be up for the fight, demonstrating a willingness in his role as chair to challenge both sides of the table.

His task will be made all the more difficult by what the IFA has rightly highlighted as an attack on finished cattle prices in the wake of Brexit. Interestingly, it was a view that Minister Creed appears to have endorsed during his presentation to IFA council. Thursday’s beef forum will also be watch closely by IFA members in relation to the position adopted by their president Joe Healy, a vocal critic of the forum throughout his pre-election campaign.

Healy also has a fine balancing act to strike in relation to the IFA position on the distribution of funds made available this week by the European Commission. While unveiled as an aid package targeting dairy farmers, it is clear that the bulk of funds within the €500m package is available to all livestock sectors, a fact reinforced by Minister Creed.

Income challenges

While the income challenges facing dairy farmers are real, they come at a time when all sectors are facing an uncertain future. Clearly the most important job in hand is to secure matched funding from Government for Ireland’s €11m share of the EU aid package. Ultimately, in the context of Irish dairying, it is welcome that supply control measures are on a voluntary basis and that the Commission did not sway to pressure from France, Germany and Poland, which had been pushing for more extensive controls.

The minister also demonstrated an appreciation of the challenges in relation to taxation measures, accepting that the recent reforms extending income averaging from three to five years saw farmers defer tax liabilities from a time when milk prices were at 40c/l to the present, when prices are closer to 20c/l.

Again, he made all the right sounds, indicating that he was open to any ideas regarding a more manageable tax system that reflected the specific income volatility challenges facing farmers.

The run of positive news also extended to committing to payments under TAMS being issued by the end of the month, a reopening of the BDGP scheme and the introduction of a new financial product that is fit for purpose and will reflect the income challenges facing farmers in the autumn.

While there is no doubt Creed delivered a strong performance, he will be measured by actions, not words. The positive mood music created on Tuesday will quickly evaporate unless it is followed up by delivery. This week only served to set the bar by which we can measure the new minister’s performance over the next 12 months.

Walking the walk

There is certainly no shortage of opportunities for him to prove to farmers that he can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. The actual substance in the post-beef forum press release will be our first indication. Farmers will be watching for a real commitment from Government to ensure all barriers preventing the full exploitation of the live export trade are removed; a timeline of when inspections on carcase trim will actually be stepped up in meat processing plants; and a plan as to how the industry will process and market the extra cattle due to come on stream in the years ahead while protecting prices paid to farmers.

Meanwhile, farmers will be monitoring closely how the minister performs around the Cabinet table. The immediate test will be securing matched funding for the EU’s targeted aid package followed by delivery on his commitments to introduce a finance package that gives farmers access to competitive finance ahead of the autumn, and a tax model that reflects the level of income volatility now commonplace in farm incomes.

Is it time to once again dust down the Australian tax model that allows farmers to bank revenues in a strong market to be released in a downturn.

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Timeline: Creed's performance so far