Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue’s rating among farmers has fallen significantly this year.

Only 21% of almost 1,900 farmers surveyed by the Irish Farmers Journal believe that the minister is doing a good job. Only 2%, one in 50, rate his performance as very good.

In our last survey in January, 37% of farmers saw him as performing well.

That represents a drop from one in three farmers viewing McConalogue’s performance positively to one in five. This marks a reversal of a trend through 2022 where his performance rating among farmers was rising in our surveys.

Of course, 2022 was a much better year for farmers, in terms of price, weather, and animal and crop performance than this difficult year.

McConalogue’s negative ratings have, unsurprisingly, risen sharply. In January, only 27% of farmers viewed the minister’s performance negatively. Now that figure is 46%, a rise of 19%. The number of farmers who view his performance indifferently has grown slightly, from 36% to 39%.

McConalogue’s positive rating is strongest among tillage farmers, at 30%. He fares worst among dairy farmers with only 16% viewing him positively. This is an absolute reversal of the sectoral view farmers displayed last September.