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 Teagasc Agri Environment Conference 2010 in Tipperary On September 7th next at Ballykisteen Hotel, Tipperary, the Teagasc Agri-environment Conference 2010 will provide a forum for those working in the agri environmental arena to receive an update on the most topical environmental issues affecting agriculture in Ireland today.
This is a departure from previous conferences (formerly known as the National REPS Conference) in the sense that discussions will not be limited to agri-environmental schemes.
The Conference will focus on practical outcomes from current agri-environment research, advisory experience as well as examining policy drivers and their potential impacts.
This year’s event will comprise an indoor conference in the morning followed by a farm walk on the Solohead Research Farm in the afternoon. The morning conference will hear from experts on environmental research and policy while the afternoon farm walk will consist of a number of stations located on the Solohead Research Farm which will provide delegates with a practical insight into the work carried out by Teagasc Environmental Programme.
Amongst the subject matter for discussion is included:-
Fertilizer Use in Ireland – “Getting the Balance Right” – Speaker Mr Stan Lalor, Research Officer, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle.
Phenology – ” How Natural Cycles of Wildlife are Changing” – Speaker Dr. Alison Donnelly, Botany Department, Trinity College Dublin.
The keynote address will be delivered by broadcaster Duncan Stewart on the topic “Sustainability in Agriculture – Rising to the challenge.”
This year the afternoon session will be in the form of a farm walk at the Solohead Research Farm which is located five minutes from the Ballykisteen Hotel. Due to parking restrictions, delegates will be transported by coach to and from the farm. Delegates are therefore advised to bring suitable footwear and clothing for the farm walk.
Conference Fee is just €80 per person which includes refreshments and lunch. Click here for on line booking form.
 Commissioner Dacian Cioloş The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers (ICMSA) said it would schedule a meeting of the European Milk Board (EMB) in Dublin to coincide with Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş‘ forthcoming visit.
Although the Commissioner’s travel arrangements have not been confirmed, it is expected he will arrive on the evening of September 30th and depart on October 1st, 2010, following scheduled meetings. However, a spokesperson for the EU Commission in Dublin said the arrangements were “very tentative” at the moment and were subject to change.
The farm body said it had proposed to the EMB that it hold its next conference in Dublin in October but would be prepared to move that date forward so that the Commissioner could be in attendance.
An ICMSA spokesman said the conference will will be attended by dairy farmers from all over the European Union.
It is understood that Commissioner Ciolos has expressed a wish to visit a farm while in Ireland depending on time constraints.
The ICMSA have proposed the farm of Mr Pat McCormack, Lisheen, Co Tipperary, to host the Commissioner’s anticipated farm visit. Mr McCormack’s is considered one of the best young farmers in the Munster region and his expertise has been recognised by his recent election to the ICMSA Dairy Committee to host the Commissioner’s much anticipated farm visit.
Staying on farming matters:-
Teagasc Forced To Consider Turning Away Agri Students
Hundreds of agricultural students are expected to be refused entry to Teagasc courses this Autumn, due to a massive surge in applications.
Continue reading Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos Could Visit Tipperary
 The prize winning pupils in the Agri-Aware’s nationwide Incredible Edibles competition gathered in Dublin Zoo yesterday to receive prizes worth over €5,000 to help them develop school gardens.
Monastery Primary School (Scoil na mBriathre 3rd class) in Tipperary town was the nationwide winner out of thousands of primary schools which took part in the competition to grow their own potatoes, onions, baby carrots, lettuce, spinach and strawberries .
Agri Aware’s Mairead Lavery stated:
“The competition has given tens of thousands of children the thrill of growing their own food and understanding from whence their food is derived. They also understand how important it is for their health and the effort it takes to actually grow their own ‘five-a-day’.”
The IFA will hold a major tillage conference on the theme of “Returning t o Profitability Tillage Production” next Thursday June 17th at 7.00pm in the Anner Hotel, Thurles. The conference is designed to guide tillage farmers and help them make the most of existing and new market opportunities.
The conference will provide the most up to date information, which will enable farmers to make informed decisions and extract the best price from the market.
The Conference will be opened by IFA President John Bryan and addressed by Grain Chairman Noel Delany and Executive Fintan Conway who will set out the market outlook and price prospects for the 2011 harvest.
David Neale of Masstock UK Arable will focus on producing for niche markets and de-risking grain production, while Farmers’ Journal tillage editor Andy Doyle will urge growers to think outside the box to regain profitability.
Practical advice on the rapidly growing area of farm to farm trading and using the iFarm trading platform will be covered in a special session.
IFA Alternative Land Use Chairman J.J. Kavanagh will describe the opportunities opening up in renewable energy for arable crops.
Irish farmers, similar to their EU counterparts, face huge challenges arising out of two very difficult harvests in 2008 and 2009 when prices hit historic lows.
To Register: Please contact IFA on 4500266.
 The question of whether the need to abate greenhouse gas emissions should be seen as a cost or an opportunity for Irish agriculture will be debated at this year’s Nuffield Ireland Conference which takes place at the Horse and Jockey Hotel, Thurles, on 17 June next.
With the theme ‘Carbon – a cost or opportunity for farming‘, it has attracted some of the country’s leading climate change experts.
Speakers will include Paud Evans, the chief principal officer at the Department of Agriculture, Owen Ryan from the climate change section of the Department of the Environment, Teagasc scientists Gary Lanigan, Johnstown Castle, Matthew Deighton and Laurence Shaloo, Moorepark; Thomas Ryan, IFA, and Justin McCarthy, Irish Farmers Journal.
The conference will be briefed on current and future Government policy on climate change, while the use of grass in various farming systems as a means of combating greenhouse gas emissions also will be discussed.
Attendace at this conference costs €30 (€35 after 11 June) and further details can be obtained from the IFA (Irish Farmers Association) Telephone: 00 353 (1) 4500266 Fax: 00 353 (1) 4551043.
 New figures show that the number of farmers availing of the Farm Assist Social Welfare payment in North Tipperary has soared in the last year. There have been 190 claims awarded up to May of this year, in comparison to 152 for the whole of last year.
This substantial leap in payments highlight the ongoing financial hardship experienced by farmers throughout the County.
Up until May 5th of this year, there were 190 farm assist claims awarded in the Thurles Social Welfare Local Office, with a further 12 claims still awaiting decision. These figures also cover the Nenagh and Roscrea Branches.
The farm assist scheme was introduced into the Social Welfare Act, in 1999. It fairly addresses the situation of low-income farmers and helps provide them with a safety net. It benefits farm families with children and also provides increased payments to farming couples without children and to single farmers on low income.
While this means-tested payment is broadly similar to the Job Seekers Allowance Scheme, it has a more generous means test, which takes account of the specific nature of farming and unlike Job Seekers Allowance; farmers claiming this payment do not need to be available for work outside of the farm in order to qualify.
North Tipperary Fine Gael TD, Deputy Noel Coonan who recently raised this worrying issue through a parliamentary question he put to the Minister for Agriculture and Food and speaking to www.thurles.info , stated:
Continue reading Increase In North Tipperary Farmers Seeking State Support
 A study, which was carried out by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), suggests that farmers in the Republic of Ireland are paying up to 58% more for veterinary medicines each year, than their counterparts in the North.
The survey involved the price comparison for similar veterinary products in veterinary offices and farm shops in Tipperary and other counties, with those available in similar outlets in Coleraine and Fermanagh, in the six counties.
The survey demonstrates that a farmer in the Republic of Ireland, presently milking 70 cows, is paying up to €1,000 per year more for the same commonly used products.
This survey was conducted over a one week period in February last.
ICMSA vice president John Comer said:
“The massive mark-up on vet medicines is part of a professional monopoly, which the Government is not alone failing to address, but actually supports and condones. The high cost of these products and services in Ireland is a direct result of Government regulation, on one hand and Government failure to bring competition to the sector, on the other.”
Veterinary Ireland blamed the wholesale cost of pharmaceutical products supplied into the Irish retail market, varying considerably from that pertaining to other EU member states, including Northern Ireland.
 The Common Agricultural Policy is worth over €1 billion to the Irish economy in purely financial terms, but it is possibly three times that figure when the jobs created by this money are taken into account, stated Labour MEP Alan Kelly addressing the CAP Conference organised today at the Tipperary Institute.
He further stated:-
“The new CAP must ensure the competitiveness of Irish agriculture, seek to reduce regulation and be linked to job creation in rural areas. However, to achieve this we must start the debate now as it will be the major issue in European Union circles shortly.”
IFA President John Bryan said farmers expect the Government to strongly defend the record of the CAP, and insist on a fully-funded budget post-2013.
Mr Bryan stated:
“Price and income volatility in agriculture has increased greatly since the 2003 CAP reform, with the decoupling of payments from production, and greater exposure to an increasingly liberalised and unregulated world market. This is threatening the viability of the European family farm structure and must be addressed urgently. EU policymakers must learn from the experiences of the last few years and amend the CAP structures appropriately to counteract market volatility and protect farm families. EU food security can only be achieved through promoting policies that secure the production of sustainable, high-quality food produced in Europe for its consumers. The CAP provides 500 million European consumers with a guaranteed supply of food. The sector employs over 40 million people and production is carried out in a sustainable way that protects the land, the environment and animal welfare. While Irish and European food is renowned for its quality, food prices have actually lagged well behind general inflation, largely as a result of financial supports provided by CAP to farmers.”
He further stated that the CAP post 2013 must:
* Retain the Single Farm Payment at its current level;
* The Single Farm Payment must be directed at supporting active farmers, on a historical basis as currently operates;
* Rural Development Funding must remain a co-financing commitment;
* Separately funded and effective market support and management measures;
* Simplified payment and cross compliance systems.
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