DEAR EDITOR: There are few industries that face the number and variety of risks faced by farmers in Ireland.

The current weather is just another reminder to add to the long list which includes policy risk (nitrates and other regulations), market risk (input and output price volatility), financial risk (rising interest rates), health and personal risks, geopolitical risk along with animal and crop health risks.

While one might argue that farmers have always operated in a highly risky environment, there is no doubt that given the choice some farmers would welcome the opportunity to manage some of their risks.

These farmers may be the ones who have invested heavily or have more recently begun to farm.

They must look with envy at other sectors and farmers in other countries who have access to a suite of tools which allow the management of some of the risks they face.

As it is likely that these risks will persist and may even increase in some cases, it is reasonable that as a key industry, that time and effort should be invested in providing tools to manage these risks. This can begin with stakeholders acknowledging the particularly risky nature of farming and then working together to create suitable tools to manage some of these risks. Let’s not waste another budget and CAP reform.