Kenny: 'Farmers take all the risk' but get the least
Sinn Féin TD, Martin Kenny has raised concerns about the threats that US tariffs pose to the dairy sector.
Speaking in the Dáil today (April 2) Deputy Kenny said that farmers' profit margins are "getting tighter and tighter".
He said: "I suppose it goes back to the old adage you know that the farmer is the one person that pays a retail price for their inputs, and takes the wholesale price for their outputs. That's really the crux of this issue here.
"The cost that farmers have to pay for either fertiliser, or feed, or whatever it is, is all the time climbing. Even the diesel for the tractor, it's going up and up and up all the time. And yet, they see that their margins are getting tighter and tighter."
"While new markets certainly will assist, we need to be going for the top shelf, we need to make sure that we're getting the top price for the very high quality product that we export all over the world. Unfortunately that hasn't always been the case," Kenny added.
In his response, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon highlighted the work that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is doing to expand Irish markets around the world.
"Everyone is very concerned about what could happen with tariffs from the United States and obviously the impact it will have on our agri-food sector.
"America is our second biggest market we export €2 billion worth of agri-food and drink products over there, butter and dairy obviously being a key component of that," Heydon said.
The minister also outlined that of the 59,000 tonnes of butter the EU export to the US, 51,000 tonnes of that comes from Ireland.
During the Dáil debate, Deputy Kenny claimed that too often "people in the middle make most of the money".
He said: "The farmer that takes all the risk, gets up at night for to make sure the cow calves, and to look after the lambs and to do all the work.
"They're the ones that put in the huge amount of work, and yet they’re the one that takes the least, when it comes to the squeeze in the market."
Minister Heydon was also keen to clarify that, as minister for agriculture, he does not have a role in "setting or controlling prices for any commodity".
He said: "I do have responsibility for working, in the area of new market development, to make sure that we open up so many more opportunities for us, continue to enhance the markets were in, and grow the value in those spaces, and continue to look to seek new markets, so we're never dependent on one individual market.
"It is then up to the Irish food processors and food companies to see if the prices are getting back for Irish farmers produce, is the best price that can get.
"The more markets they have opened, the more opportunities they have. Just because we might open a new market and then not fill it straight away with the produce, isn't the sign of failure".
