Time to take stock of the farming landscape and the future of food production

Now that we are hopefully coming to the end of the depressing fodder crises, it is the perfect time to stop for a complete reappraisal on the future direction of Irish farming and food production, the way we farm, its effects on people, animals, communities and the environment. Where is the joined-up thinking because farmers deserve more direction than just export targets?

Next month I’ll be working 20 years in RTÉ. God knows how many farms the length and breadth of the country I’ve visited in that time. If I did an inventory of the issues covered, I’ve no doubt that three quarters of the time I’ve gone to interview a farmer it was in relation to a crises or a catastrophe. BSE, foot and mouth, milk price, beef price, pig price, lamb price, CAP cuts, isolation, rural crime, bird flu, horsemeat, the dioxin scare, farm inspections, farm accidents and, of course, the weather. All problems that have faced farmers on a sporadic basis in my two decades reporting on agri matters. Don’t get me wrong, I do have reason to go and hear of happy stories too.

During that time I have learned that, uniquely, as an industry, farming is never more than a few days away from some sort of unexpected hammer blow. Not even the best, most progressive, most cautious farmers are immune. And weather is the biggest fear of them all. The other ailments in the main can be prevented or cured. But never the weather.

It has undoubtedly been the biggest challenge farming has had to deal with collectively since the foot and mouth disaster (FMD) of 17 years ago. Even so, the big difference between both events is that thanks to various mitigating rules and measures put in place in its wake, there’ll unlikely be a repeat of the 2001 FMD outbreak on such a scale again. Who can say the same about there not being another long and harsh winter next year and the year after and the year after that again?

Already there is going to be a knock-on effect next autumn as reserve stocks of feed usually lying around farms will be gone and the race is even on now to get silage ground ready in time for first cuts this summer. Emotions are still running high but farmers have no choice but to try and put the past few months behind them and get on with the job in hand of getting the land back into productive condition again. And good luck to them as they go about their work.

In the meantime, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed should, without haste convene a major summit of all stakeholders to take stock of the farming landscape and the future of food production in Ireland. At least begin a discussion.

Farm incomes, food security, personal wellbeing, animal welfare and environmental sustainability in the context of climate change, a dwindling CAP, the vulnerability of our grassland system, the cereal area collapse and an ageing workforce should be the core of the discussion.

Farmers have become increasingly frustrated in search of certainty and it has now come to a head. The fodder crisis also suggests that Food Wise 2025 is not the answer. Ramping up production for less of an income with the Child of Prague outside the door is hardly the way forward. Let’s not wait ‘til the next crises. CL

Bob Geldof for president

All the talk about who would make a good President to succeed Michael D Higgins. I know he wouldn’t touch it with a forty-foot bargepole but the more I listen to Bob Geldof, the more I think there’d be few better.