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 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.
Next meeting of GIY (Grow It Yourself) Thurles will be held on Thursday next, March 11th, at 7.00pm in the Thurles Library building, The Source, Cathedral Street, Thurles.
As we have now officially entered into Spring, it’s time to start thinking again about growing our own vegetables.
With St Patrick ’s Day approaching fast, don’t forget to set your early potatoes.
 Tipperary Organic Food The GIY networks team aim to take the ‘self’ out of ‘self-sufficiency’ by getting garden growers together on a regular basis to chat and learn the tips of the trade from one another.
Note: The meetings are free and open to people interested in food production at all levels, e.g. from growing a few herbs on the balcony to complete self-sufficiency for beginners as well as old hands.
For more information on the GIY Network visit www.giyireland.com
And talking about healthy food, congratulations to “Omega Beef Direct“ in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, who won an environmental award for its sustainable farming and production methods.
Joe and Eileen Condon’s organic farm is close to the Knockmealdown mountains here in Co Tipperary and they scooped their top prize in this years annual food awards presented by the Irish Food Writers Guild, Dublin.
This is the 16th year of the awards, which seek to promote the highest quality of produce, and craftsmanship.
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