The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is calling on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to convene a “summit” of leaders and experts across the farming sector.
Denis Drennan, the association’s president, said that the financial issues for farmers in the sector have “moved past just falling incomes”, with confidence and farmer morale “throughout all sectors collapsing”.
“Unless the right questions are asked and the right context sought for answers then we have no chance of restoring a degree of stability and confidence in the sector,” he added.
“Following the massive reduction in dairy farmer incomes in 2023, we are likely to see further reductions this year as weather conditions drive up costs and reduce milk volumes.
“Milk prices have not risen to the levels required to offset those additional costs; inputs costs have not fallen in line with output prices; and the growth in regulation and the uncertainty, particularly on the nitrates derogation, has completely undermined confidence in the sector and halted investment on farms,” Drennan said.
According to the ICMSA president, the pressures on farmers is the “culmination” of almost two years of falling prices compounded by high input costs.
“It’s well past the time for the minister and the wider industry to stand up and start supporting farmers, alleviating, where possible, the tidal wave of pressures and stresses that are engulfing farmers at present,” he said.
“We urgently need a whole sector summit or sit-down that will plot a way forward together out of the blind alley into which we have been led.
“The minister needs to take the lead on this and call the industry together immediately,” Drennan added.
The call from the ICMSA comes after a new Farmers’ Charter was agreed between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and farm organisations this week.
The ICMSA welcomed the agreement on the charter, but said that it now “must start delivering”.
ICMSA deputy president Eamon Carroll said that the charter provides “a basic reference” to ensure farmers are “treated fairly and reasonably in their dealings with the department”.
However, he said that the success or failure of the charter was “completely dependent on its implementation and the commitment that officials bring to their obligations”.