Planning

They will have prepared spreadsheets of estimated costs of fuel and oil, labour, machinery, insurance, spare parts, utilities, office costs and professional fees, bank and finance house repayments, charges, interest and tax liabilities and a contingency fund for any unexpected emergencies.

Having done this, they will arrive at what they need to charge for their services. They will meet with their farmer clients to discuss what work is required and agree schedules, prices and payment terms. My congratulations to contractors who have followed this process. However, I’m afraid, I see pigs flying over most of the country! My long-held wish has been that all agricultural contractors see themselves as professionals and a vital part of the agricultural production chain.

Heavy investment

Contractors face many difficulties, especially their prices undermined by black economy operators, many of whom are farmers sons, who by tradition earn extra money by utilising the family farm machinery, a practice that cannot continue. While accepting that many contracting businesses started this way, we now live in a different era where farmers need reliable professional contracting services, with the latest machinery and smart technology, leading contractors to invest heavily.

Low emission slurry spreading (LESS) is the latest practice that requires contractors’ investment. Many farmers cannot afford the cost of the machinery needed to comply with this new LESS legislation, even with the 60 per cent grant (yet again this grant is not available to contractors). Those who can find the additional 40 per cent to buy the machinery, will need to use it outside their own farms to make it viable and this is another example of undermining the professional contracting sector.

Farmers and farmers’ children operating in the black economy across a wide spectrum of work, seriously affect the survival of contractors. Farmers and their advisors should realise that saving a few euro today will be a costly mistake if in the future there are no contractors.

It astonishes me that ministers and civil servants responsible for the agricultural sector do not understand the importance of having a strong viable professional agricultural contracting sector to support cost effective production, which is the cornerstone of our valuable export market. Or maybe they do understand but are not prepared to take measures to ensure their survival.

When farmers are affected by weather, etc., financial help is often given, which I fully agree with, but there is nothing for the contractor who must still meet his repayments and outgoings.

Future of contracting is in your hands

We have a new agriculture minister with a good track record in health and safety in farming. I urge him to instruct his department to establish a register of agricultural contractors, carry out a full review on the viability of the agricultural contracting sector and, in doing so, justify the following: why the sector is not under the remit of Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and why machinery grants and other emergency help are not available to contractors. Together with the Department of Finance, it should report on the loss of tax revenue created by the black economy operating in the agricultural contracting sector.

Many in farming might disagree with my views but I would ask them to reflect. Yes, I do want agricultural contractors to have a fair deal, but their survival is also vital to cost effective production and without them many farms will not survive.

Farming needs a strong, reliable agricultural contracting sector, but trying to save a few euro could herald their demise. Farmers, the future of contracting is in your hand.