There were several farmer protests in 2022, with pig farmers and egg producers taking action at various stages.
The Irish Farmers Journal took a look at the main farm protests this year below.
January
Pig farmers took to protesting early in the year, under the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), following a number of smaller protests in the back end of 2021.
On 17 January, the IFA pig farmers held a demonstration at the Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght, Co Dublin. Their aim was to raise awareness of the financial crisis they were facing.
“Pig farmers are suffering and cannot sustain the current losses for much longer. Without a co-ordinated response from all the relevant stakeholders, the entire sector is in jeopardy,” IFA president Tim Cullinan said on the day.
Protesting pig farmers met with management in a number of supermarkets. \ Claire Nash
Detailing the extent of pig farmer losses due to rising input costs and poor pork prices, IFA pig chair Roy Gallie said farmers were losing as much as €35 per finished pig.
Protesting pig farmers from across the country entered supermarkets in Tallaght and outlined their calls for a pig price increase to be passed back through processors.
IFA pig chair Roy Gallie at the Tallaght protest. / Claire Nash
On 19 January, an IFA delegation led by Cullinan and Gallie met with Minister McConalogue and Department officials to address the crisis.
February
The IFA pig farmers again took to protesting on Monday 14 February at Dunnes Stores in Cork and Monaghan.
Specifically targeting Dunnes Stores in relation to its pork prices and calling for Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to intervene, at the time IFA president Tim Cullinan said Dunnes Stores could not continue to ignore the very difficult situation at farm level.
He said the supermarket chain’s key management hadn’t even acknowledged the IFA’s request for a meeting.
“Farmers are resolute. We received strong support from shoppers today. They recognise the quality food they are buying and they are willing to pay a price that covers the cost of that,” he said.
Poultry farmers also joined the IFA’s protest, the first of a number of demonstrations which culminated in a six-day blockade in October.
At Dunnes in February, IFA poultry chair Nigel Sweetnam said other retailers have met with the IFA and acknowledged the issue of rising costs but warned that they too need to act.
“We cannot survive at current prices. We are looking for 15c a chicken and 2c an egg,” he said.
March
Weeks later, on 25 March, the IFA pig farmers moved to protest at the Department of Agriculture’s head office in Dublin and demanded a “clear indication” of the Department’s evaluation of the €100m emergency support package for the pig sector.
The aid package had been proposed by the IFA and other pig sector stakeholders.
Pig farmers are protesting outside Government buildings to secure urgent action. \ Finbarr O’Rourke
Protesters demonstrated with banners and placards which read “Save Our Bacon”.
May
The IFA pig committee led a protest, this time at Carroll’s Meats, Tullamore, on Thursday 5 May over concerns of the alleged undercutting of pig prices by the processor.
The farmers were looking to secure improved supermarket price contracts.
Farmers also said they were seeking assurances from Carroll’s that all pigmeat used by the processor and affiliated companies to supply contracts would be 100% Bord Bia quality assured Irish pigmeat.
IFA’s Ulster-north Leinster chair Frank Brady said at the time: “What we are doing here is trying to get a margin back into what we produce and this crowd [Carroll’s of Tullamore] have taken some of the biggest contracts off other processors in southern Ireland.
“If it is not sorted out soon, there won’t be an industry. There will be an awful lot of the sows gone in the next couple of weeks.”
From there, the IFA ramped up its pig farmer protests to four secondary processors by Tuesday 10 May. The aim of the protests was to see pork prices increase to €2/kg by June.
At the time, farmers were receiving approximately €1.68/kg and hadn’t seen a price increase since the beginning of April.
The IFA's 'Save Our Bacon' campaign. \ Finbarr O’Rourke
“It’s now or never for them. We are losing €55 per pig sold and this has been the case for far too long,” Gallie then commented.
The four protest locations the farmers protested were Carty Meats, Athlone; Pilgrims, Shillelagh, Co Wicklow; Oakpark Foods, Cahir, Co Tipperary; and Connolly’s Pork and Bacon, Co Monaghan.
On 18 May, pig farmers gathered at Hilton Foods in Drogheda from 6am to again highlight the need for pig price increases to keep the sector afloat amid the high feed costs and stagnant pig prices.
June
On 9 June, IFA pig farmers protested at Callan Bacon (Karro Food Group), Co Kilkenny, and again at Carrolls of Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Speaking on the day, they said they were “not going home” until a pigmeat price increase was enacted by the processors.
September
On 29 September, IFA poultry farmers started a six-day protest at Aldi and Lidl supermarkets in Cavan town.
The protests involved a blockade at the supermarkets to prevent deliveries but protesters did not prevent customers from entering the stores.
The shelves in Aldi, Cavan, were emptied during the egg producer protests. \ Lorraine Teevan
The blockades saw the supermarket shelves soon empty of perishables such as bread and milk.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the time, egg producer and IFA poultry committee vice-chair Brendan Soden said the protesters were calling for a 2c increase on the price the supermarkets pay them per egg or 24c/dozen.
Poultry and pig farmers protesting at Aldi and Lidl in Cavan town in September.
The farmers’ calls were made on the back of rising farm input costs.
There were several farmer protests in 2022, with pig farmers and egg producers taking action at various stages.
The Irish Farmers Journal took a look at the main farm protests this year below.
January
Pig farmers took to protesting early in the year, under the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), following a number of smaller protests in the back end of 2021.
On 17 January, the IFA pig farmers held a demonstration at the Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght, Co Dublin. Their aim was to raise awareness of the financial crisis they were facing.
“Pig farmers are suffering and cannot sustain the current losses for much longer. Without a co-ordinated response from all the relevant stakeholders, the entire sector is in jeopardy,” IFA president Tim Cullinan said on the day.
Protesting pig farmers met with management in a number of supermarkets. \ Claire Nash
Detailing the extent of pig farmer losses due to rising input costs and poor pork prices, IFA pig chair Roy Gallie said farmers were losing as much as €35 per finished pig.
Protesting pig farmers from across the country entered supermarkets in Tallaght and outlined their calls for a pig price increase to be passed back through processors.
IFA pig chair Roy Gallie at the Tallaght protest. / Claire Nash
On 19 January, an IFA delegation led by Cullinan and Gallie met with Minister McConalogue and Department officials to address the crisis.
February
The IFA pig farmers again took to protesting on Monday 14 February at Dunnes Stores in Cork and Monaghan.
Specifically targeting Dunnes Stores in relation to its pork prices and calling for Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to intervene, at the time IFA president Tim Cullinan said Dunnes Stores could not continue to ignore the very difficult situation at farm level.
He said the supermarket chain’s key management hadn’t even acknowledged the IFA’s request for a meeting.
“Farmers are resolute. We received strong support from shoppers today. They recognise the quality food they are buying and they are willing to pay a price that covers the cost of that,” he said.
Poultry farmers also joined the IFA’s protest, the first of a number of demonstrations which culminated in a six-day blockade in October.
At Dunnes in February, IFA poultry chair Nigel Sweetnam said other retailers have met with the IFA and acknowledged the issue of rising costs but warned that they too need to act.
“We cannot survive at current prices. We are looking for 15c a chicken and 2c an egg,” he said.
March
Weeks later, on 25 March, the IFA pig farmers moved to protest at the Department of Agriculture’s head office in Dublin and demanded a “clear indication” of the Department’s evaluation of the €100m emergency support package for the pig sector.
The aid package had been proposed by the IFA and other pig sector stakeholders.
Pig farmers are protesting outside Government buildings to secure urgent action. \ Finbarr O’Rourke
Protesters demonstrated with banners and placards which read “Save Our Bacon”.
May
The IFA pig committee led a protest, this time at Carroll’s Meats, Tullamore, on Thursday 5 May over concerns of the alleged undercutting of pig prices by the processor.
The farmers were looking to secure improved supermarket price contracts.
Farmers also said they were seeking assurances from Carroll’s that all pigmeat used by the processor and affiliated companies to supply contracts would be 100% Bord Bia quality assured Irish pigmeat.
IFA’s Ulster-north Leinster chair Frank Brady said at the time: “What we are doing here is trying to get a margin back into what we produce and this crowd [Carroll’s of Tullamore] have taken some of the biggest contracts off other processors in southern Ireland.
“If it is not sorted out soon, there won’t be an industry. There will be an awful lot of the sows gone in the next couple of weeks.”
From there, the IFA ramped up its pig farmer protests to four secondary processors by Tuesday 10 May. The aim of the protests was to see pork prices increase to €2/kg by June.
At the time, farmers were receiving approximately €1.68/kg and hadn’t seen a price increase since the beginning of April.
The IFA's 'Save Our Bacon' campaign. \ Finbarr O’Rourke
“It’s now or never for them. We are losing €55 per pig sold and this has been the case for far too long,” Gallie then commented.
The four protest locations the farmers protested were Carty Meats, Athlone; Pilgrims, Shillelagh, Co Wicklow; Oakpark Foods, Cahir, Co Tipperary; and Connolly’s Pork and Bacon, Co Monaghan.
On 18 May, pig farmers gathered at Hilton Foods in Drogheda from 6am to again highlight the need for pig price increases to keep the sector afloat amid the high feed costs and stagnant pig prices.
June
On 9 June, IFA pig farmers protested at Callan Bacon (Karro Food Group), Co Kilkenny, and again at Carrolls of Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Speaking on the day, they said they were “not going home” until a pigmeat price increase was enacted by the processors.
September
On 29 September, IFA poultry farmers started a six-day protest at Aldi and Lidl supermarkets in Cavan town.
The protests involved a blockade at the supermarkets to prevent deliveries but protesters did not prevent customers from entering the stores.
The shelves in Aldi, Cavan, were emptied during the egg producer protests. \ Lorraine Teevan
The blockades saw the supermarket shelves soon empty of perishables such as bread and milk.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the time, egg producer and IFA poultry committee vice-chair Brendan Soden said the protesters were calling for a 2c increase on the price the supermarkets pay them per egg or 24c/dozen.
Poultry and pig farmers protesting at Aldi and Lidl in Cavan town in September.
The farmers’ calls were made on the back of rising farm input costs.
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