Bord Bia needs to do more to establish and grow markets for Irish lamb, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan has said.
Cullinan described how French farmers are currently securing €8/kg for their lamb and compared it with Irish prices.
“That’s €2/kg more than what we are achieving here. Forty euro a lamb is the differential that’s there at the moment,” he said.
Calling for processors to secure more from the marketplace, the IFA president said: “Bord Bia and their processors need to do more. If there’s €8/kg available in France at the moment, I ask why aren’t we able to get that here?
The IFA sheep farmer protest in Roscommon on Monday. \ Darren Carty
“A huge job of work has to be done by Bord Bia and the processors in the short term and immediately.”
The Tipperary farmer was addressing crowds at the IFA sheep farmer protest in Rocommon on Monday.
‘Hugely concerned’
Cullinan told the 200 farmers present at the protest that he is “hugely concerned about the thinking coming out of this Government and coming out of Dublin”.
“What do they want for the rest of Ireland? Do they want to end up with nothing only trees in the west of Ireland and not farming?
Protesters walked through Roscommon town on Monday. \ Darren Carty
“What’s very important for us is that we continue farming. We don’t want a situation where we’re getting a CAP payment of €12/ewe and a plan to give €1,200/ha for trees.
“This is not what farmers want. Farmers want to continue to produce food here in Ireland and [there is] no better place to do that,” he said.
Protecting the sheep sector
The IFA president called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to “show real support for real farming”.
“The Government has a job to do to protect this sector and we’re very clear. We said this from the start, €12/ewe is not going to work.
“We said it all during the last CAP reform and I did say at the time the Minister wasn’t listening. Well, he better start listening now because we’re saying here today it has to be €30/ewe and nothing less."
Sheep farmers held placards at Monday's protest. \ Darren Carty
On where this additional sheep sector funding could come from, Cullinan insisted that the European Commission has made clear its state aid rules and that exchequer funding could therefore be put on the table.
He also highlighted the resources available to Government through the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) at €1.2bn.
Read more
Sheep farmer protest kicks off in Roscommon
Bord Bia needs to do more to establish and grow markets for Irish lamb, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan has said.
Cullinan described how French farmers are currently securing €8/kg for their lamb and compared it with Irish prices.
“That’s €2/kg more than what we are achieving here. Forty euro a lamb is the differential that’s there at the moment,” he said.
Calling for processors to secure more from the marketplace, the IFA president said: “Bord Bia and their processors need to do more. If there’s €8/kg available in France at the moment, I ask why aren’t we able to get that here?
The IFA sheep farmer protest in Roscommon on Monday. \ Darren Carty
“A huge job of work has to be done by Bord Bia and the processors in the short term and immediately.”
The Tipperary farmer was addressing crowds at the IFA sheep farmer protest in Rocommon on Monday.
‘Hugely concerned’
Cullinan told the 200 farmers present at the protest that he is “hugely concerned about the thinking coming out of this Government and coming out of Dublin”.
“What do they want for the rest of Ireland? Do they want to end up with nothing only trees in the west of Ireland and not farming?
Protesters walked through Roscommon town on Monday. \ Darren Carty
“What’s very important for us is that we continue farming. We don’t want a situation where we’re getting a CAP payment of €12/ewe and a plan to give €1,200/ha for trees.
“This is not what farmers want. Farmers want to continue to produce food here in Ireland and [there is] no better place to do that,” he said.
Protecting the sheep sector
The IFA president called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to “show real support for real farming”.
“The Government has a job to do to protect this sector and we’re very clear. We said this from the start, €12/ewe is not going to work.
“We said it all during the last CAP reform and I did say at the time the Minister wasn’t listening. Well, he better start listening now because we’re saying here today it has to be €30/ewe and nothing less."
Sheep farmers held placards at Monday's protest. \ Darren Carty
On where this additional sheep sector funding could come from, Cullinan insisted that the European Commission has made clear its state aid rules and that exchequer funding could therefore be put on the table.
He also highlighted the resources available to Government through the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) at €1.2bn.
Read more
Sheep farmer protest kicks off in Roscommon
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