The farm income crisis was high on the agenda as the Dáil discussed the latest Council of Agriculture Ministers in Brussels last week. Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice was among the most vocal speakers as he emphasised live exports as the only way to ensure beef prices are buoyant.

Whatever we have to do to entice the animal on foot out of the country to put manners on the factory system, it has to be done

“Manners has to be put on the factories that are turning around and screwing the farmer,” said Fitzmaurice. “The feedlots that those factories have are questionable for the simple reason that if you are feeding a lot of cattle in those feedlots you can distort the numbers in factories week in, week out. Whatever we have to do to entice the animal on foot out of the country to put manners on the factory system, it has to be done.”

Dairy loans

It wasn’t just beef that came up – Fitzmaurice also brought up the dairy industry.

“There’s a lot of parts of the agricultural sector in trouble at the moment,” he said. Expressing disappointment at the dairy sector, “the new Santy that was coming,” he highlighted that “a lot of people have borrowed money and are suffering”.

After talking to a number of co-ops in the west, he said that there is no appetite for them to adopt something similar to Glanbia’s MilkFlex scheme.

“I would ask you, minister, to make sure that what Commissioner Hogan and the head of the EIB promised is adhered to,” he added, in reference to proposed farm loans funded by the European Investment Bank.