What if...?

What if agricultural contractors and farmers went on strike? What if there was no milk, no meat, no vegetables, no bread, no butter or other dairy products – fresh frozen or tinned? What if there were just empty shelves, week after week. Oh dear! There would be no profits for the middleman or supermarket chains. Would they then have to consider if they can stay in business because of the small return they would make without products and ingredients produced by the farming sector? Could my dream make them realise that without agricultural contractors and farmers they might be made redundant? In my dream, farmers’ and contractors’ value would be realised and acknowledged, but what a nightmare the quest for such recognition would create!

How we spend

It is interesting to note how the public spend their income and what has become a priority in household spending. Apart from housing, the spending on leisure, eating out, alcohol, and car ownership each account for more than is spent on food. Since the 1980s, the proportion of household expenditure on food across Europe has steadily declined from 28 per cent and by 2021, Eurostat figures show the average expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages across Europe was 14 per cent. In Ireland it was 8.3 per cent. There is no doubt this has been at the expense of farmers and agricultural contractors who are our main food producers.

This takes me to why I support Macra. If we want young people to go into farming, they need a better deal than previous generations got. They must not be treated as cheap labour to subsidise the rest of the population’s lifestyle choices – happy to spend on life’s luxuries, not so much on good food. 

I know of farmers in my locality whose children have stated clearly, that they will not carry on farming for the poor income and the hours endured. One of them works in a factory with set hours, assured income, and a pension; another is a bus driver bringing home more than his father.

Reckless policy 

Importing cheap produce from countries around the world has to stop, especially countries that do not have to adhere to our high standards of production and are not required to comply with environmental or employment-protection legislation. This clearly undermines our farmers and the price they can achieve for their produce and, of course, on the prices that agricultural contractors can charge. The Common Agricultural Policy system is broken. It is not the farmer who is benefiting, in my opinion, but the chain of middlemen and supermarket giants. Government and their advisers need to wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late.

Machinery Show

I often marvel at the resilience of the machinery trade as it always puts on such a fantastic display of the latest farm machinery at the biennial Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) Farm Machinery Show. In July, the demands of farmers and agricultural contractors who need the latest technology to enhance the service that they can offer to their farmer clients will be satisfied as Punchestown, once again provides that backdrop for this event. 

In relevant terms, compared with machinery shows and sales in the UK and Europe, Ireland is a small market for machinery manufacturers. So, I take my hat off to them for treating us on a par with the bigger markets. We should all make the effort to attend the Machinery Show even if you’re not buying this year. We need to show our appreciation to the manufacturers and the FTMTA for all the time and energy taken by them in putting on this show.  The date for your diary is July 5-6 at Punchestown in Co. Kildare.