Well, my friends, here we go again!

Another year has kicked off and, hopefully, we will be wiser to the challenges before us – last year’s certainly tested us! At time of print, new-government-formation talks were underway and the horse-trading between parties was going strong, so we had no white smoke.
The situation in the US, with its president-in-waiting is a real issue, though. Donald Trump’s plans to make America great again, in my opinion, may damage future developments across Europe as trade wars, sanctions, and scaremongering, in general, seem to be his administration’s modus operandi. He seems to think he is operating within the rules of a game of monopoly; fake money, fake properties, and games of chance with no substance. Then, when the game and his term are up, it’s packed all away with both winners and losers left wondering about the validity of it all.
From an Irish perspective, he is no friend of Europe, really. We depend heavily on American companies that are based in Ireland. Many a son and daughter of the farming community work in these companies providing valuable off-farm incomes to support the business inside the farm gates. I have many friends in this situation. In a lot of cases, it keeps the farm enterprise viable. The next four years of Trump’s reign will be watched very closely across all continents .
Now, nearer to home, Teagasc predicts that farm incomes are to rise in 2025, with dairy incomes averaging €113,000. Cattle prices and sheep prices are set to rise again owing to tighter supplies, and tillage farmers can expect anything up to a 40 per cent increase in incomes owing to rises in grain prices and higher yields bringing the average income up by €42,000.
As I pen this column, €357m has been allocated through various schemes to famers by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, while the recent Kerry Co-op deal will put money into the pockets of Munster dairy farmers pockets.
The Mercosur deal is the fly in the ointment and may become a reality in 2025. As cheap beef enters Europe it may, in time, undermine the very fabric of the production of high-quality traceable beef. Farm leaders in Europe are venting frustration and we eagerly await the outcome.
In December, I attended a fantastic conference held by the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors in Ireland in Co. Laois. I was glad to see Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, take a serious interest in issues facing contractors in Ireland. This may well have been his last official gig as minister. He has given contractors some hope that their issues will be addressed going forward. Leave Charlie in his position, I say.
As we start a new year, I won’t dwell on the increasing prices of farm machinery and the unstable tractor market across Europe in 2024 – but it is certainly worth the mention, and we will come back to it, no doubt.
Instead, I will finish on a positive by highlighting the upcoming LAMMA 2025 show, which kicks off on January 16 and 17. The Spring Farm Machinery Shows start a few weeks later. I feel tractor and machines prices might level out this year so take to the shows and see what’s on offer.
Until next month, farm wisely, farm safely.