Clock ticking for field veg producers, IFA warns

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture has been warned that swift policy changes are needed to stem the tide of vegetable growers leaving the sector.

The number of farmers growing field vegetables on a commercial scale has plummeted from 377 in 1999 to 165 in 2014 and is thought to be below 100 today, an IFA delegation told TDs and senators.

The IFA called for stricter labeling rules to protect Irish growers and minimum price protections to safeguard against below selling on supermarket shelves.

Its deputy president Brian Rushe said that rising input costs coupled with low prices spelled disaster for growers and called for “unsustainable discounting” practices employed by retailers to be stopped.

Rushe likened supermarket vegetable discount “price wars” to those seen in the liquid milk sector.

It was also stated that a potato shortage is possible could be the result of low prices being paid by buyers in Ireland.

“In the potato sector, growers were forced to export potatoes to Portugal and Holland this year as they could not afford to store crops any longer due to energy costs,” the IFA told the committee.

“Ironically, we are now facing a gap in the market between old and new season potato crops.”

Cost squeeze

The IFA’s potato committee chair Sean Ryan gave the example of one grower who exported potatoes this year after buyers failed to raise prices to cover storage costs.

“I can give you just one example of a grower in Meath that had three fridges running that were costing €15,500 a month to run,” Ryan said.

“Growers needed money, they needed money to pay electricity bills or that was going to be cut off.

“They didn’t do that and they are looking for potatoes now that are not there but you can’t pay the growers. If the market was there, we would all do it, everyone in this room would do it.”

Peat issue remains

The deputy president also called out a failure of policymakers to provide sufficient volumes of peat alternatives before effectively ceasing the milling of fresh, horticultural grade peat on Irish bogs.

He stated that it has been a case of “ideology getting in the way of reality” as peat is still being used by Irish growing but is imported from eastern Europe.

IFA horticulture executive Niamh Brennan said that, from a peat supply point of view, growers were “just about getting by”.

“A lot of these companies and growers are investing money into alternatives and we want to make it clear that we are willing to work to alternatives but it has to be commercially viable for that,” Brennan commented.