Some hope amid gloom in tough year for farmers

What an eventful half-year it has been for farming. For a sector that was considered a sunset industry in the boom years, it has seldom been out of the headlines since the start of 2013.

Of course, they were mainly headlines that nobody wanted. Ireland was initially in the eye of the storm when the Food Safety Authority first discovered horsemeat in beefburgers. This sensational revelation was the start of a huge international scandal .

The horrible spring weather which has caused a grave shortage of fodder has produced many stories of hardship and struggle.

Ireland was also centre stage in Brussels during the intense negotiations over reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Although there were loud demonstrations by farmers in the final laps of the bargaining, Minister Simon Coveney, as chairman of the EU negotiations, managed to broker a deal which has been given a cautious welcome by Irish farmers. It still has to be finalised by the European Parliament and EU Commission.

The current fodder problems follow on from a miserable 2012. The weather last year was dreadful for farmers and average incomes fell by 15 per cent to €25,483. Any increase in product prices was eroded by the rising cost in inputs.

One can only wonder about the headlines for the rest of the year as the Government, co-ops and farm groups continue to import fodder from Britain and France costing millions of euro.

Sadly, the pressures of coping have led some well-known farmers to take their own lives in recent months, though the individual reasons are varied and often unstated. However, the Associate Professor of Public health at UCD, Dr Patrick Wall, has urged farmers to look after their mental health and not become vulnerable to depression because of the extent of negativity in Ireland at present.

With accidental deaths on farms totalling 21 last year, the Health and Safety Authority will have its work cut out in curtailing farm accidents this summer. Frenetic activity is expected on farms when the weather finally relents and farmers try to catch up – issues of safety may not be foremost on their minds.

Most of this paints a very bleak picture. However, two significant headlines about the food sector lift the unremitting gloom. The first is that the Kerry Group has already started to recruit 900 staff for its new global technology and innovation research centre in Naas, Co Kildare. The second is the plan by Glanbia plc to construct a new world class dairy plant in Belview on the Kilkenny/Waterford border, creating 1,600 direct and indirect jobs.

In the midst of the depression about the weather, both these spectacular developments are confident signs about the future long-term prosperity of farming. They are signals that the ambitious growth targets for agriculture in the Governments Harvest 2020 plan are achievable.

This past week has seen the first glimmer of summer appearing in the countryside. The fields have eventually “greened up” and cattle are out in the fields in many areas. But apart from the sheep and the bullocks, there is a distinct lack of colour around. The arable crops are still low in the ground, there is no sign of the white “Maybush” which usually dominates the hedgerows, nor is there evidence of the vivid yellow rapeseed which normally carpets much of the countryside around now.

Weather hardship
Over the last three years, farmers have been battling with poor weather. But 2013 is the worst on record for grass growth and cereal crops are about three weeks behind.

In more than 20 years as an agricultural correspondent, I never witnessed anything like the weather hardship experienced recently. Concerns about the summer weather provided numerous stories every year. In my career, I only experienced drought twice, usually the stories were about the woes inflicted by wet weather on strawberry growers, potato producers and the tillage sector.

Who would want to be a farmer with the perennial worry about unpredictable weather, and especially in present circumstances? Despite being ridiculed for frequently complaining, farmers are eternal optimists. Even at the end of a long wet summer they will usually plead: if only we could get 10 days of dry, sunny weather we could still save the harvest.

Farmers not shouting wolf about their present predicament. There is clearly a crisis in some places about feeding animals right now. Another crisis is looming about the potential income drop some could face in 2013 because of additional high feed costs and a possible reduction in output.

Government support
At this stage, prices are strong for dairy, beef and lamb output. At the start of 2013, Teagasc forecasted a 7 per cent income improvement for farmers this year, provided there was no repeat of last summers rainfall. That prediction is obviously now in question but Teagasc does not rule out some rise in income if there is a good summer and milk prices hold.

But tillage has suffered badly from the cold and wet, and cereal growers expect the harvest outturn to be only 1.8million tonnes, down
from the norm of 2 million tonnes.

Farm leaders have highlighted the stress their members are suffering. As our largest indigenous industry, it is in everyone’s interest that agriculture thrives and that morale is supported. The Government must give all the practical support it can, and the urban community must lend moral support.

As farmers head into June, they can only dream that the headlines for the rest of the year will be about blazing summer weather, high output prices and even a boost in income.

Joe O’Brien is former RTÉ agricultural correspondent