All the latest opinion and comments on the Irish agricultural industry from the Farmers Journal editorial team.

LATEST ARTICLES
Northern Ireland
Discontent among farmers about future payments
David Wright
Reports suggest a small number of farmers have decided to walk away from the BPS regime.
Discontent among farmers about future payments
Heavy costs ahead to upgrade our electricity system
1 January 2025 Viewpoints
Heavy costs ahead to upgrade our electricity system
Additional power needs new generation units and renewables, wind farms and solar arrays being the favoured options.
A look back at the last 60 years in farming
1 January 2025 Viewpoints
A look back at the last 60 years in farming
The most obvious contrast between 'then' and 'now' is the change in scale in every dimension of agriculture.
Dempsey at Large: Variable incomes
The original CAP, with its guaranteed intervention prices and export refunds, was designed to prevent severe fluctuations.
1 January 2025 Viewpoints
Home Farm: Analysing our dairy beef results
The difference in final price between the best and the worst was a really signifiant €340.
1 January 2025 Viewpoints
Opinion: political gongs for 2024
It's time to hand out the plaudits and brickbats for 2024, so who is getting their heart's desire and who has a lump of coal in their Christmas sock?
25 December 2024 Opinion
Brexit off the airwaves but still on the ground
Traders in Ireland and the UK have moved from discussing Brexit to living with it.
24 December 2024 News
Colm McCarthy: Ireland has a mixed legacy on climate
In Ireland, the willingness to subsidise has unleashed an onslaught of lobbying for more, including demands that State subvention be made available for technologies as yet unproven.
23 December 2024 Viewpoints
View from China: Changes in China's pig industry
Speaker after speaker grappled with the prospect that China would in reality need only half the number of sows currently in the herd.
23 December 2024 Viewpoints
Assurance schemes can’t keep adding new rules
A series of reports during 2024 have highlighted the robust assurance standards already in place for UK and Ireland farmers
23 December 2024 Northern Ireland
Irish tillage needs its own Ornua-style organisation
Irish tillage farmers need a new organisation selling their goods or at least looking at ways to incorporate Irish tillage credentials into meat and dairy products.
21 December 2024 News
Feed additive reaction is a real problem
Methane-reducing feed additives are seen as a key tool in tackling emissions from ruminant livestock
18 December 2024 Northern Ireland