A motion calling for a €200/cow suckler payment received cross-party support in the Dáil on Wednesday and was accepted by the Government.

The move is Government recognition of the need to support Ireland’s suckler farmers and an endorsement of the Save Our Sucklers campaign, spearheaded by the Irish Farmers Journal.

The motion, which was tabled by Fianna Fáil’s agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue, called on the Government to work towards introducing a €200 payment per suckler cow via the current BDGP and secure additional funding in the next CAP programme to achieve a suckler cow support payment of €200 per cow.

Unspent funds

It also called for Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to review the current Rural Development Programme for any underspend and target that underspend at the suckler and other vulnerable sectors.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, McConalogue welcomed the strong cross-party support and said the key thing now was to see follow through from the Government on the will of the Dáil.

“In the event of Europe forcing a Mercosur deal, funding should be given to the Irish beef sector,” he said, adding that he was opposed to beef being part of the Mercosur deal.

Seriousness of the issue

In response to all of the statements on the Dáil floor on Wednesday night, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed thanked McConalogue for bringing the motion before the house.

“It is indicative of the seriousness of the issue. In the context of the challenges that we face from Brexit to Mercosur to CAP, I think the motion touches on all of those issues.

“I am committed to ensuring that suckler farmers continue to receive strong support in the next CAP post-2020, however I am strongly of the view that any such payments should not merely be supports for the sake of supports.

“Suckler farmers must be supported and encouraged to make the best decisions possible to improve profitability and the economic and environmental efficiency of their farming system.”

On funding such a €200/cow suckler payment, however, the minister said that it simply wasn’t an option because of WTO and state-aid rules to have that funded from the Exchequer.

SOS campaign

More than 30,000 farmers have so far joined the Save Our Sucklers campaign by signing an open letter to European Commission President Juncker, Commissioners Hogan and Malmström, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister Michael Creed, calling on them to recognise the important role that suckler farmers play in maintaining a vibrant rural Ireland.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of farmers attended a Save Our Suckler mart demonstration in Carndonagh, Co Donegal, jointly hosted by the Irish Farmers Journal and the IFA.

What was said in the Dáil

Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil spokesperson on agriculture

“I hope that, coming out of this motion, we will see the Government for once changes its tack in relation to the level of support that it has given to our suckler cow beef sector.

“It is a crucial sector, it underpins our €2.5bn of beef exports. We see over 70,000 farm families involved in the suckler cow sector and depending on it.

“We also see that for every €1 invested in the suckler cow beef sector, there’s a return of €4 to the local economy.”

McConalogue acknowledged “the tremendous work and campaigning that’s been going on by the Irish Farmers Journal and the IFA”.

“In particular as well, it’s been very much driven by Adam Woods, beef and suckler editor.”

Michael Fitzmaurice, Independent TD

“The reality is that the majority of the suckler herd is from Donegal down to Clare and out to Longford. The reason that we are losing the number of suckler cows is that, to be quite blunt about it, when you go to the mart to sell your weanling, the price isn’t in it. The cow is costing too much.

“Unless we put a floor under the cow, we are going nowhere.

“There was talk about the beef genomics but, to be quite honest, for going to the export markets, we need to have the Benson and Hedges-coloured Charolais in a lot of places because that’s what will make the money. We have to be getting €850 to €1,000 for a weanling or you’re going nowhere with the suckler herd.

“If we keep going the way we’re going, we’re driving the farmer out and from Donegal, right down to Kerry and out as far as Longford, that’s where the nucleus of them are [we’re going nowhere] unless we protect them.”

Martin Kenny, Sinn Féin agriculture spokesperson

“There’s either sheep, forestry or sucklers, they’re the three options that most farmers have got generally along the western seaboard.

“The service that these farmers provide to the beef sector is number one, because they are the root of where the very successful beef sector comes from, from the excellent quality of weanlings that are produced… it really has to get some form of recognition.

“We know it’s [a €200/suckler cow payment] a cost, but if we are serious about protecting that sector, we have to be trying to find where that money can come from and how that sector can get that money.”

Read more

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‘We will deliver’ suckler demo crowd told

Editorial: sending a strong message from rural Ireland