Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan has announced that he will be reviewing structures within the IFA in 2022.

Speaking at the association's 67th AGM at the Mansion House in Dublin on Thursday, he said the current structure of the IFA has served it well, but that "it's time to look at it afresh".

"There must be opportunities for us to modernise, make more use of technology and to adapt to meet the new challenges of 2022 and beyond.

"This year, I intend to initiate a review of our structures. We need to attract more new people to take on roles in [the] IFA.

"We must have an efficient structure that makes the best use of the time officers give to our association. We cannot be afraid of change," he said.

Climate

Cullinan was critical of Government climate policy and retailers in his AGM address.

He said the focus for Irish agriculture must be about reducing carbon emissions, not reducing farm output.

Cullinan warned policymakers that agricultural emissions come from food production and that, therefore, they must be viewed differently than those in other sectors.

He described how climate policy around the world is now impacting on food production and warned that Ireland cannot follow other EU member states who are “taking drastic action to reduce their output”.

Rule the roost

Considering the Government’s climate policy for agriculture, the Tipperary farmer said that using a “blunt instrument” to satisfy the Green Party would be a “huge mistake”.

He said: “We live in a democracy. A party with 12 [Dáil] seats out of 160 cannot rule the roost.”

Cullinan was highly critical of Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe’s position on last week’s vote on European Union animal transport proposals, along with the MEP’s controversial letters to the main Irish banks discouraging them from lending to farmers.

He said that Cuffe “took it upon himself a few months ago to try and sabotage young farmers by warning the banks not to lend to them”.

We must fully understand the consequences of policy decisions and the impact they will have in all our communities

Cullinan said that instead there must be a “balanced approach to policymaking”.

“We must fully understand the consequences of policy decisions and the impact they will have in all our communities - including our rural communities.”

Retailers

The IFA president also focused in on the role of retailers in the agri-food supply chain.

He reissued his call to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to fulfil his promise of delivery of a food regulator this year.

He said farmers are still waiting for the regulator who will bring balance to the sector.

He asked: “You have to wonder what does it take to rein in the retailers?”

He said such retailers did very well in the last two years and that they seem to have a grip on Government policy, pushing the pig, poultry, horticulture and liquid milk sectors to the “brink of wipeout”.

“Food prices in Ireland have fallen every year from 2014 to 2020. This is unsustainable.

“But the retailers keep turning the screw, using food as a loss leader. It seems they don’t care if all our growers go out of business.”

Bullied

Describing the recent protests by pig and poultry farmers, most recently this week’s protest by poultry farmers outside Lidl supermarkets in Cavan and Monaghan, he said the IFA “won’t stand by while retailers make dirt of our food”.

“There is now a law banning below cost selling of alcohol. We need the same for food. This needs to be part of the food regulator legislation.”

He said Lidl and other retailers “should decommission their highly-paid lawyers and spend the money on supporting their suppliers”.

Strong association

Concluding his speech, Cullinan said the IFA “continues to be strong, with over 74,000 voting members”.

He described the “huge changes” the association has made over the past two years and welcomed the return to a “financial surplus”, which he said wasn't achieved easily.