Farming « Thurles Information

Tipperary Farmers March On Minister’s Constituency

Paidraig Walshe A large number of Tipperary farmers were among a group of over 7,000 protesters who gathered in the constituency of Minister Brendan Smith TD, in Co.Cavan yesterday to demonstrate their views regarding cuts to the agriculture sector. Farmers say their industry is being decimated by a number of recent cutbacks and recommendations.

Farmers are irate following recommendations made in the recent An Bord Snip‘s report, which calls for an end to the Suckler Cow Scheme and a winding down of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS). Under REPS, the Government has stopped accepting new applicants to the subsidy scheme, but existing participants will continue to receive payments for up to five years. However, the IFA says the move is another cutback on top of cuts in Disadvantaged Area Payments and Suckler Cow Payments made earlier this year.

IFA President Padraig Walshe stated that the recommendations contained Colm McCarthy’s report were a ‘barefaced attack on rural Ireland’.

Dept of Agriculture to reorganise Tipperary office networks

Meanwhile the Irish Department of Agriculture is now most likely to re-organise its Tipperary office network which will have a major effect right across County Tipperary. A new structure of approximately sixteen offices will provide for the co-location of staff currently based in the twenty-eight District Veterinary Offices, twenty Agricultural Environment and Structures Offices and ten Forestry Offices, shedding 400 jobs of the current workforce of 4,000 employees. In this report the Agricultural Environment Structures Office in Thurles, the Agricultural Environment Structures Office in Clonmel, the Cahir Forest Service Office and the Nenagh District Veterinary Office are all recommended for closure. If recommendations in the report are followed North Tipperary will now be served by Limerick while in the south of the county, Tipperary Town will be the centralised location.

North Tipp Fianna Fail Deputy Maire Hoctor stated that she is hoping that staff employed within Nenagh and Thurles can be accommodated locally in both the Revenue and Social Welfare offices.

Local Fresh Produce Crippled by Foreign Imports – Deputy Noel Coonan

“Replacing local fresh high quality produce with foreign imports is crippling the Irish Farming Community” stated Deputy Noel Coonan

North Tipperary‘s farming community is being brought to its knees by a Fianna Fail Government, which continually fails to protect farmers and the food industry, according to Deputy Noel Coonan. The Deputy’s comments relate to issues between supermarkets and Irish food producers, current milk prices and low beef prices.

Deputy Coonan stated:-

“We saw frustrated potato farmers stage a protest at a meeting of senior Tesco officials during the week in Meath where they voiced their just concerns over the importation of potatoes from abroad. The decision to replace local fresh produce with imports affects not just farmers but those working in delivery and packaging too. The Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith has to take adequate steps to protect this indigenous vital industry and immediately outline the Government’s plans to protect jobs in the industry. The farming community has the potential to play a strong role in revitalising the economy. The frustration felt by potato farmers echoes from dairy and beef farmers too. Liquid milk producers are losing out severely per litre for every litre they produce. Beef farmers also need a higher share of the consumer spend on the products they supply. Producers are not being rewarded for their efforts and are effectively being forced off the land. The margin is too great between what farmers sell and what the supermarkets sell it for. Minister Smith has previously described the agri-food sector as Ireland’s most important indigenous sector, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout every county in the country, at both producer and processor levels. Yet we see farmers facing cut after cut which hinders the development of the sector. The Government is doing nothing to stem the drift from the land when the country really needs agriculture to drag it out of this current recession.
Fine Gael Agriculture Spokesperson Michael Creed TD has questioned Minister Smith on how he proposes to protect and increase jobs in the food industry in view of threats posed to employment in the sector by the major multiples. This is an issue that is of grave importance and we will continue to question and press the Minister until we get an adequate reply.”

Deputy Coonan said that in contrast Fine Gael recognises the potential of the agri-food sector to stimulate job creation and economic growth and the party is committed to ensuring that Irish producers are competing on a level playing field with other countries.

Weld AIB Bank’s Top Brass To Wind Turbines As Rotating Monuments

frank-mockler-copy Frank Mockler, a local farmer from Thurles in Co. Tipperary, suggested to those assembled at the recent AIB bank’s AGM that the “top brass” in AIB should now be welded to wind turbines to stand as “rotating monuments to our national greed”.

Some shareholders present were highly amused at his vision, but Mr Mockler, who was attending his first bank AGM, having driven over 100 miles from his home, was far from gleeful. Mr Mockler, who had travelled to attend the event with his friend and fellow shareholder, Denis Walsh, continued “When our children ask what became of our accumulated wealth, we can use the well known lines from the Bob Dylan lyric, ‘the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind’,” he stated.

Mr Mockler, together with his friend had both lost considerable funds as a result of their misplaced trust in AIB investments. While not depending on this money, Mr Mockler had hoped to pass it on to benefit his families future, and watching a wind farm operating near his home had given him the inspiration for his turbine idea.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD Commends Recipients of Meat Hygiene Certificates

teagasc-awards Certificates in Meat Hygiene were presented to food technical staff of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at a ceremony attended by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD on Saturday, 25 April last.

The graduates completed nine modular courses at certificate level at Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre over the last number of years and were awarded FETAC certificates in Meat Hygiene.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Teagasc Director, Professor Gerry Boyle stated:

“The safety of Ireland’s food supply is paramount, not only for the consumer and to protect public health, but also for the sustainability of the food industry. The 250 officers who receive their Certificates in Meat Hygiene today play an important role in ensuring the safety of our food chain.

Martin Long, Thurles, County Tipperary received a special ‘Theoretical Examination’ award

The course at Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre provided over 600 hours of training to technical staff of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the standards of the EU Directive 91/497/EEC. It covered both the theoretical and practical aspects of meat hygiene. Course modules covered included: animal welfare, anatomy and physiology, basic pathology and disease, and food borne illnesses.

Tipperary Company To Export Bovine Semen To China

South Eastern Cattle Breeding Society Limited, Thurles, Co.Tipperary are one of two Irish companies who have now been approved for to export bovine semen into China.

In order to allow the export of bovine semen from Ireland to China, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food had to satisfy the requirements of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ).

Junior Agriculture Minister, Tony Killeen T.D. described the news as a hugely significant development for the sector. Minister Killeen stated:-

‘For the first time, the large and potentially lucrative Chinese market has been made available to Irish companies who can offer quality genetics in Irish bovine semen to Chinese customers. This development proves that Ireland is now globally recognised for having an advanced animal breeding structure and I am confident that more Irish companies will be approved in the future by the Chinese authorities. I also wish to pay tribute to the work of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) in ensuring that livestock breeding in Ireland has benefited from the application of the latest technologies to the livestock breeding sector’.

This market was secured following two visits to Ireland by Chinese officials who carried out rigorous and detailed inspections of the South Eastern Cattle Breeding Society Limited.