In his inaugural address at the 61st AGM of the IFA on Wednesday, IFA president Joe Healy has pledged to deliver on farm incomes.

“As your new president, I want to assure you that tackling the farm income crisis is my No 1 priority,” said Healy, who was given a standing ovation in the full IFA council room.

“This will be the top of my agenda when I meet the Minister for Agriculture. I want to see a dedicated minister with sole responsibility for agriculture and food in the new Government.”

The importance of the CAP and direct payments was highlighted by the president as issues that must be addressed in the CAP mid-term review.

“The focus of the CAP mid-term review must be to build on the simplification initiatives of Commissioner Hogan,” he said.

“We recognise the need for a National Reserve for young farmers and the minister must find a way of delivering this without cutting payments further.”

Unity

Healy’s speech touched on many of the issues that were raised at hustings around the country by grassroots members.

“I just wanted to be true to myself and reflect the issues that came up night after night,” he said.

Immediate issues such as product prices, retail regulation, input costs, Mercosur and Brexit were specifically identified.

“There is unrelenting downward pressure by retailers and processors on farm prices. This is not sustainable,” he said. “Based on what consumers are paying, farmers are entitled to more. This means a viable price above the cost of production and a fair return on work and investment.”

In his speech, Healy proposed the introduction of a PTO scrappage scheme to support farmers to replace old PTO shafts with new, safer models.

Strength

In order to strengthen the organisation, the new president proposed two initiatives:

1. Re-establish the national animal health committee with all counties represented and a full seat on council for the chair.

2. Set up a full national committee combining hill and other designated areas, with the chair having a full seat on council.

“Apart from these, I propose to discuss with the national officers all other IFA positions on outside bodies, and bring the full list back to the next council for approval,” said Healy.

Delivery

The 15th president of the IFA is confident that the organisation can tackle the challenges he outlined head on to deliver real results. “I am asking you today to get behind me, and get behind the IFA. Together we can succeed.”