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Opinion: contractors will need understanding when the weather finally arrives
Pat O'Toole
A week in the life of a tillage farmer/journalist that was as varied as the weather.
16 March 2024 Opinion
Opinion: inspections protocol is an important breakthrough
Reading the protocol for farm inspections agreed in Wexford has given Pat O'Toole heart - and flashbacks.
9 March 2024 Opinion
Opinion: the birds are singing a different tune to some politicians
While some would have hedge-cutting contractors believe there should be an extension for hedge trimming into March and August, the birds are whistling a different message for Pat O'Toole.
Opinion: four days can be a long time in the world of farming red tape
The new requirement to report all slurry exports within four days followed within four days of a ministerial commitment to minimise red tape.
2 March 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farmers need the truth, but they also need hope
The presentations by Elaine McGoff and Eddie Burgess were interesting in themselves. Taken together, they present a good range of opinion on exactly where farming and water quality intersect.
24 February 2024 Opinion
Opinion: the irresistible force versus the immovable object
While the European Commission is an all-powerful machine at the heart of the EU, used to telling everyone what to do, farmers are now telling them to take a step back.
18 February 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farmers' fellowship of the ring-roads sends clear message
While the slogan of Thursday's IFA tractor demonstration was 'enough is enough', it was the Boomtown Rats, not Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand in Pat O'Toole's head.
3 February 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farmers need to be careful what they wish for
Geopolitical chaos may undermine environmental regulations, but I don't think it's a near future we should want to happen.
27 January 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farmers, like the faithful, face the fear of the unknown
Watching The Traitors, a penny has dropped, writes Pat O'Toole. We exist in a constant state of uncertainty when we can't see all the pieces on the board.
20 January 2024 Opinion
Opinion: quick guide to the European Parliament
The European Parliament has its own party groupings and an extensive committee structure. Here's a quick guide to its workings.
17 January 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farming will be affected by 2024's many elections
With elections due this year in Ireland, the UK, the US and the EU, it will be hard to keep up with all the shenanigans, predicts Pat O'Toole.
6 January 2024 Opinion
Opinion: farm leaders deserve all our gratitude
The current changing of the guard in the IFA and the ICMSA sees some end decades of service to their fellow farmers, part of the wide range of volunteerism that underpins Irish life.
16 December 2023 Opinion