will you part take in the ifa day of action?

whelan1

will you part take in the day of action?
yes
no

6480

i dont think so because i dont feel that the ifa has done anything to lobby the co-ops on milk prices for us ,and there s also not a word out of them to help or advice any one on how to deal with weather or feed problems during this difficult year

bbam

Great idea for a poll...

Personally I think there is more to be lost than gained from such a protest..

whelan1

6480 wrote: »

i dont think so because i dont feel that the ifa has done anything to lobby the co-ops on milk prices for us ,and there s also not a word out of them to help or advice any one on how to deal with weather or feed problems during this difficult year

have to agree , really feel the ifa has lost its way in the last few years, fair enough every one on a crest of a wave last year with strong milk and beef prices, where are they now..... we had an issue where we had no fmp meeting for nearly 3 years in our area, yet the fmp levy was still being taken from our milk account....

Conmaicne Mara

How many are voting no just to going to Dublin?

Of those people, how many have gone to protests before?

Would they go even if they agreed with it, or is it just a no for no's sake?

whelan1

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

How many are voting no just to going to Dublin?

Of those people, how many have gone to protests before?

Would they go even if they agreed with it, or is it just a no for no's sake?

we where discussing this here earlier, normally if theres a protest, my dad goes to " represent our family" ifa need to get young blood out there to go to these protests, i wouldnt be able to make it to dublin as i have too many commitments here.... its not like years ago when there was loads of people at home to look after everything for the day

Farmer Pudsey

The IFA is like all Unions (and that is what it is) it is now run by activists that think that they know what is best for us all. The inability to get new blood involved is an issue also it still has a perception that all farmers should be full time. A lot of the time it lobby's for changes that favour fulltime farmers over part time farmers. It also will allow change that will favour fulltime farmers.

Over the last 15 years it has taken decisions that effected in a negative way thesmaller farmer.

For example when the SFP was bought in there was a huge transfer of wealth from the West of Ireland to finishers.

The recent cuts to DA will again favour farmers (I know the more active ones) on better land as opposed to farmers in the poorer land area's.

Reps 4 which allowed bigger farmers access to it on minimum terms and large payments and has now seen the closure of any envoirmental scheme to farmers that were in it for years.

snowman707

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

How many are voting no just to going to Dublin?

Of those people, how many have gone to protests before?

Would they go even if they agreed with it, or is it just a no for no's sake?

not going, and not too happy at the way this was arranged behind closed doors.

have marched and protested and sat in meat plants

don't think this is the right action at this time


Ciolos will be in Ardee next Friday, that is the time to make your feelings heard

6480

alot of the big farmers around me with a sfp of at least 50 grand never go to protests and the ifa get us muppets to ring and see if the big lads will attend and its always us who only have about ten grand of sfp to do the dirty work for the big farmers , i also feel that high up ifa members on county boards are in it for the money they can get out of it

rancher

whelan1 wrote: »

will you part take in the day of action?
yes
no

Interesting poll except it means nothing, 5% of the membership would be all that would go anyway. I didn't vote but if I did it would be 5%.
Pity you didn't split the no vote into categories based on the excuses we've got over the years eg
Too busy( part time farmers..family commitments like yourself)
Can't be bothered( too lazy)
Don't agree with the protest and finally
Ah jasus....9oct... thats a pity.. have a funeral to go to.

I'm sure your father can tell you some good ones too

whelan1

tbh i find your atitude in this thread and some other ifa posts quite aggressive , if this is what the "new" ifa is about i think we are all better staying away.... also on the poll, sore loser much:rolleyes:also as farming is for alot of people on a part time basis are these people supposed to take a day off their paid job to protest?

reilig

rancher wrote: »

Interesting poll except it means nothing, 5% of the membership would be all that would go anyway. I didn't vote but if I did it would be 5%.
Pity you didn't split the no vote into categories based on the excuses we've got over the years eg
Too busy( part time farmers..family commitments like yourself)
Can't be bothered( too lazy)
Don't agree with the protest and finally
Ah jasus....9oct... thats a pity.. have a funeral to go to.

I'm sure your father can tell you some good ones too

With an attitude like that and claiming to represent the IFA, is it any wonder that people don't want to protest. Keep going like that and some people may consider not renewing their subscription.

The 80 or so people who voted are a good indication of the general public's feelings on the protest march. They are a mix of full and part-time farmers from every ounty in the country and represent every type of farming carried out in the country. In fact, if you paid a marketing company to carry out a survey, you couldn't get more balanced feedback.

Maybe instead of biting back, you should feed the results back to the IFA so that they can determine if this protest is feseable? I believe that many of the local IFA branches are meeting this week to feed back their discontent about the protest. Our own met last night and only 2 of the 27 were in favour. Pity we weren't informed before the decision to have the protest was made.

bbam

Have to say I'm one of the part timers that whelan referra to and NO, I wouldn't be taking a day off.

Ive worked in industry lots and the "attitude" you referr to is similar to some of the self serving unions I've been unfortunite enough to come up against, and indeed be a member of.

bob charles

rancher wrote: »

Interesting poll except it means nothing, 5% of the membership would be all that would go anyway. I didn't vote but if I did it would be 5%.
Pity you didn't split the no vote into categories based on the excuses we've got over the years eg
Too busy( part time farmers..family commitments like yourself)
Can't be bothered( too lazy)
Don't agree with the protest and finally
Ah jasus....9oct... thats a pity.. have a funeral to go to.

I'm sure your father can tell you some good ones too

Rancher any chance you can make a email address available for the IFA so that I can forward my opinion on this protest taking place. Also forwarding on this poll and the other topic may (just may) be of interest with what seems to be an out of touch IFA over this protest.

bbam

bob charles wrote: »

Rancher any chance you can make a email address available for the IFA so that I can forward my opinion on this protest taking place. Also forwarding on this poll and the other topic may (just may) be of interest with what seems to be an out of touch IFA over this protest.

In fairness thats a good idea. Rancher seems to be taking the brunt of people's frustration with the IFA.

rancher

reilig wrote: »

With an attitude like that and claiming to represent the IFA, is it any wonder that people don't want to protest. Keep going like that and some people may consider not renewing their subscription.

The 80 or so people who voted are a good indication of the general public's feelings on the protest march. They are a mix of full and part-time farmers from every ounty in the country and represent every type of farming carried out in the country. In fact, if you paid a marketing company to carry out a survey, you couldn't get more balanced feedback.

Maybe instead of biting back, you should feed the results back to the IFA so that they can determine if this protest is feseable? I believe that many of the local IFA branches are meeting this week to feed back their discontent about the protest. Our own met last night and only 2 of the 27 were in favour. Pity we weren't informed before the decision to have the protest was made.

Come on I have full respect for people who are genuinely too busy, as i said parttime farmers, couples with young families, etc people genuinely don't have the time, but I have been laughed at when looking for support, I have diverted buses for people who then don't show up.
Being a mod I'll give you a few quotes from the other poll on names that were put on fellow county men by genuine farmers as you say because you obviously missed them
'' Shame on the bosses in IFA, for going down this road, and hopefully the little guys, who make up the rank and file will stay home and do something usefull with their time, instead of marching to the tune of the plonkers at the top.''
''will decide whether or not they've f**ked up after we tell them the answer at the ploughing. Cart before the horse anyone? Only difference between them and the ones featured in the vid is at least Blackadders boys had a secret plan our knuckleheads decided to announce it first then ask our opinion.''
And there was more as well, can people not defend themselves against this berating and if its taken further do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves

reilig

rancher wrote: »

Come on I have full respect for people who are genuinely too busy, as i said parttime farmers, couples with young families, etc people genuinely don't have the time, but I have been laughed at when looking for support, I have diverted buses for people who then don't show up.
Being a mod I'll give you a few quotes from the other poll on names that were put on fellow county men by genuine farmers as you say because you obviously missed them
'' Shame on the bosses in IFA, for going down this road, and hopefully the little guys, who make up the rank and file will stay home and do something usefull with their time, instead of marching to the tune of the plonkers at the top.''
''will decide whether or not they've f**ked up after we tell them the answer at the ploughing. Cart before the horse anyone? Only difference between them and the ones featured in the vid is at least Blackadders boys had a secret plan our knuckleheads decided to announce it first then ask our opinion.''
And there was more as well, can people not defend themselves against this berating and if its taken further do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves

You're entitled to defend yourself - you are also entitled to defend the IFA. If you want to promote something for the IFA, contact the Admins of the site to become a verified representative and they will give you details of the appropriate proceedures and fees. People are entitled to express their opinions also. You must remember that the majority of posters on this forum are farmers, and the majority of them are IFA members, so if they feel that they need to express their discontent then they are entitled to do so.

But your claims that a poll does not represent the farming community is false. 80 out of 84 people aren't going to take part in the protest. Surely this is something that the IFA should consider??

Finally, if you have a problem with a post which you feel is offensive to you, illegal or out of place, please press the report button and it will be dealth with. As a mod, I'm a volunteer - just as you are with the IFA. I don't have time to read everything posted on the forum. As a forum user, you are obliged to read the charter. This charter details that if you have issue with a post, you should report it and I will deal with it when it is brought to my attention.

rancher

reilig wrote: »

You're entitled to defend yourself - you are also entitled to defend the IFA. If you want to promote something for the IFA, contact the Admins of the site to become a verified representative and they will give you details of the appropriate proceedures and fees. People are entitled to express their opinions also. You must remember that the majority of posters on this forum are farmers, and the majority of them are IFA members, so if they feel that they need to express their discontent then they are entitled to do so.

But your claims that a poll does not represent the farming community is false. 80 out of 84 people aren't going to take part in the protest. Surely this is something that the IFA should consider??

Finally, if you have a problem with a post which you feel is offensive to you, illegal or out of place, please press the report button and it will be dealth with. As a mod, I'm a volunteer - just as you are with the IFA. I don't have time to read everything posted on the forum. As a forum user, you are obliged to read the charter. This charter details that if you have issue with a post, you should report it and I will deal with it when it is brought to my attention.

do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves
also I didn't say the poll didn't represent the farming community, a lot of the no votes might not be going anyway as said here before.

whelan1

rancher wrote: »

Come on I have full respect for people who are genuinely too busy, as i said parttime farmers, couples with young families, etc people genuinely don't have the time, but I have been laughed at when looking for support, I have diverted buses for people who then don't show up.
Being a mod I'll give you a few quotes from the other poll on names that were put on fellow county men by genuine farmers as you say because you obviously missed them
'' Shame on the bosses in IFA, for going down this road, and hopefully the little guys, who make up the rank and file will stay home and do something usefull with their time, instead of marching to the tune of the plonkers at the top.''
''will decide whether or not they've f**ked up after we tell them the answer at the ploughing. Cart before the horse anyone? Only difference between them and the ones featured in the vid is at least Blackadders boys had a secret plan our knuckleheads decided to announce it first then ask our opinion.''
And there was more as well, can people not defend themselves against this berating and if its taken further do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves

seriously, i assume youare a grown man, this sounds like something my 4 year old would come running to me with, telling tales

5live

reilig wrote: »

With an attitude like that and claiming to represent the IFA, is it any wonder that people don't want to protest. Keep going like that and some people may consider not renewing their subscription.

The 80 or so people who voted are a good indication of the general public's feelings on the protest march. They are a mix of full and part-time farmers from every ounty in the country and represent every type of farming carried out in the country. In fact, if you paid a marketing company to carry out a survey, you couldn't get more balanced feedback.

Maybe instead of biting back, you should feed the results back to the IFA so that they can determine if this protest is feseable? I believe that many of the local IFA branches are meeting this week to feed back their discontent about the protest. Our own met last night and only 2 of the 27 were in favour. Pity we weren't informed before the decision to have the protest was made.

Im afraid i would disagree with you on that. The average age of the poster on here is about 30yo, taking that they are more used to technologies like computers and internet phones that the older farmers, i am guessing but you have access to the stats. The average age of the farmer in ireland atm is over 55yo so your poll, while accurate on F&F is by no means an accurate survey on the average farmer

reilig

rancher wrote: »

do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves

What do you mean by this? I don't have access to the identity, contact details or personal details of any of the boards.ie users? Its an anomyous forum. the admins may have it, but I certainly don't.

Interesting poll except it means nothing

reilig

5live wrote: »

Im afraid i would disagree with you on that. The average age of the poster on here is about 30yo, taking that they are more used to technologies like computers and internet phones that the older farmers, i am guessing but you have access to the stats. The average age of the farmer in ireland atm is over 55yo so your poll, while accurate on F&F is by no means an accurate survey on the average farmer

Where did you get a figure for the average age of the posters? Is that for boards.ie users or specifically for Farming and forestry users? Certainly a large number of posters on the F & F forum are over 50 (not being ageist here).

You may need to run a poll to prove your theory!

rancher

reilig wrote: »

about the protest. Our own met last night and only 2 of the 27 were in favour. Pity we weren't informed before the decision to have the protest was made.

I would hope you sent a resolution to dublin confirming that feeling, there is a process in IFA that a proposal thats passed at co. exec will be discussed. You can see the reasoning in that, its so that if anyone has an off the wall idea, it won't get past the co. exec and waste headquarters time.

whelan1

got a text this morning of county executive meeting next monday night , normal agenda, + spkrs henry burns on prices, live exports, market, CAP,budget+ rep change 2 dig tv.... no mention of 9th of october at all

rancher

whelan1 wrote: »

got a text this morning of county executive meeting next monday night , normal agenda, + spkrs henry burns on prices, live exports, market, CAP,budget+ rep change 2 dig tv.... no mention of 9th of october at all

Well bring it up and if you have the backing of the co. exec make sure your resolution is sent to headquarters if everyone is against it.
Co .chairman will have to bring it up to make arrangements, organise buses , look for support, etc, Henry is very good as well,

whelan1

rancher wrote: »

Well bring it up and if you have the backing of the co. exec make sure your resolution is sent to headquarters if everyone is against it.
Co .chairman will have to bring it up to make arrangements, organise buses , look for support, etc, Henry is very good as well,

do not understand why they didnt put it in the text, surely it warrants a mention in the agenda, unless as you said yesterday it is going ahead regardless

Black Smoke

rancher wrote: »

Come on I have full respect for people who are genuinely too busy, as i said parttime farmers, couples with young families, etc people genuinely don't have the time, but I have been laughed at when looking for support, I have diverted buses for people who then don't show up.
Being a mod I'll give you a few quotes from the other poll on names that were put on fellow county men by genuine farmers as you say because you obviously missed them
'' Shame on the bosses in IFA, for going down this road, and hopefully the little guys, who make up the rank and file will stay home and do something usefull with their time, instead of marching to the tune of the plonkers at the top.''
''will decide whether or not they've f**ked up after we tell them the answer at the ploughing. Cart before the horse anyone? Only difference between them and the ones featured in the vid is at least Blackadders boys had a secret plan our knuckleheads decided to announce it first then ask our opinion.''
And there was more as well, can people not defend themselves against this berating and if its taken further do you protect anonymity or throw them to the wolves

Rancher, I was the one who used the term "plonkers", and I withdraw it. Thing is, it was not meant to be in any way personal, but meant as a reference to this protest decision. It's fairly plain for anyone living in this country for the past few years, that for farmers to march in Dublin, and disrupt what is already a fragile economy up there, is completely out of touch with reality.
You have to face the facts. This particular decision, is just completely crazy, and its just not in the interests, of the farmers, people of Dublin, or the country as a whole.
If you can't see that, and the top boys in IFA can't see that, then there is a problem.

ZETOR_IS_BETTER

5live wrote: »

Im afraid i would disagree with you on that. The average age of the poster on here is about 30yo, taking that they are more used to technologies like computers and internet phones that the older farmers, i am guessing but you have access to the stats. The average age of the farmer in ireland atm is over 55yo so your poll, while accurate on F&F is by no means an accurate survey on the average farmer

I was just wondering with polls accuracy on boards.ie in general. How do we know all these votes were cast by farmers? I would agree with you that polls on here may not represent the true feeling in the community.

whelan1

ok, if you like forget about the poll, apart from rancher i have not seen very many people on here backing the day of action

ZETOR_IS_BETTER

whelan1 wrote: »

ok, if you like forget about the poll, apart from rancher i have not seen very many people on here backing the day of action

I agree Whelan it was just more of a general thought on polls that are on threads. I just thought the age profile that 5live made was a fair point.

rancher

whelan1 wrote: »

do not understand why they didnt put it in the text, surely it warrants a mention in the agenda, unless as you said yesterday it is going ahead regardless

Could be by design also could be a genuine mistake, if you feel strongly about it, ring the office,( are you anthony clintons area) asking for it to be put on the next text and the agenda, you won,t be long knowing which it was

LostCovey

rancher wrote: »

Could be by design also could be a genuine mistake, if you feel strongly about it, ring the office,( are you anthony clintons area) asking for it to be put on the next text and the agenda, you won,t be long knowing which it was

Clearly demand for this protest has not come from the ground up, and that is why there is so little buy-in. I have always been on the sceptical wing when it comes to inconveniencing people going to ordinary jobs who don't have any more control over decisions than we do. This time is different though - I have heard a huge amount of negativity from stalwart marchers from previous protests on this 'so-called day of action' malarky. I really think this will be a disaster if they run with it.

The thing is the IFA are world class lobbyists, but the leaders feel this need to do the macho thing too, even if it is counterproductive.

Maybe the IFA membership are getting tired of being treated like greyhounds that need to have the legs walked off them regularly to stop them getting cranky. We have all heard the cynical comments in the past from Co Exec members about pointless protests "Ah sure what harm will it do? Give de lads a day out, he he he".

If the consensus on the average age of members is accurate, the greying footsoldiers thinking about tramping the quays in Dublin on a wet day in October might be getting a bit tired of the empty ritual.

The hilarious part about this protest is that there wasn't the slightest attempt to decide what it is about before the date was announced. It confirms something us IFA-sceptics have long suspected - the IFA is an organisation that has become totally dependent on conflict to sustain itself.

LC

Tipp Man

What is this protest even for??

rancher

Tipp Man wrote: »

What is this protest even for??

This poll is gas, at the start of this discussion, I said we could get 10% of membership we're at nearly 8% now

Tipp Man

rancher wrote: »

This poll is gas, at the start of this discussion, I said we could get 10% of membership we're at nearly 8% now

No my question was serious - what is this protest for?

whelan1

rancher wrote: »

This poll is gas, at the start of this discussion, I said we could get 10% of membership we're at nearly 8% now

rallying the troops where we?

rancher

Tipp Man wrote: »

No my question was serious - what is this protest for?

The attitude of the govt to our industry,eg the indifference shown by the govt to low SFP farmers by taking there REPS
The attitude of the super markets in their efforts to push down farm gate prices,
The persistant refusal of the government to cut public spending and yet take more out of the agri budget than any other dept.
That's mainly the party line, and people will be glad to hear I'm not going to defend it anymore

freedominacup

rancher wrote: »

That's mainly the party line, and people will be glad to hear I'm not going to defend it anymore

Flounce, the sequel.:rolleyes:

Starring once again ***Rancher***

Tipp Man

rancher wrote: »

The attitude of the govt to our industry,eg the indifference shown by the govt to low SFP farmers by taking there REPS
The attitude of the super markets in their efforts to push down farm gate prices,
The persistant refusal of the government to cut public spending and yet take more out of the agri budget than any other dept.
That's mainly the party line, and people will be glad to hear I'm not going to defend it anymore

I agree with every point you make above but

1) in the current economic environment REPS was never going to be able to survive - and i don't think the public would have any support for it to survive. Lets be honest it had a good run but was always a very likely target for the axe

2) I don't think the attitude of the supermarkets has changed in the last 10, 15 or 20 years - have they done something new to warrant a march??

3) No public sector spending cuts is definately something worth marching over - i'll gladly support you on that

I think this march is a mistake - the will isn't there amoungst farmers for starters so it will be a half arsed march - and the last thing the public wants to see is farmers marching - after all "we" couldn't get enough publicity about how well agriculture was doing last year and how it was going to save the economy - The IFA should have nipped that publicity in the bud but (I'm not going to say they promoted it can't be arsed to prove that) they did nothing to stop it. Before the IFA mention bad weather year etc Joe public doesn't give a damn or is completly oblivious to how that has effected farmers this year - but you can be sure as hell be certain Joe Public hasn't forgotten the "good year" last year

Now if this march is to try to force public sector and social welfare cuts then i would support it wholeheartedly

However i get the distinct impression it is marching for the sake of marching - which in normal times is ok as nobody really cares - but in the current environment i think it could do a hell of a lot more damage than good

whelan1

Tipp Man wrote: »

I agree with every point you make above but

1) in the current economic environment REPS was never going to be able to survive - and i don't think the public would have any support for it to survive. Lets be honest it had a good run but was always a very likely target for the axe

2) I don't think the attitude of the supermarkets has changed in the last 10, 15 or 20 years - have they done something new to warrant a march??

3) No public sector spending cuts is definately something worth marching over - i'll gladly support you on that

I think this march is a mistake - the will isn't there amoungst farmers for starters so it will be a half arsed march - and the last thing the public wants to see is farmers marching - after all "we" couldn't get enough publicity about how well agriculture was doing last year and how it was going to save the economy - The IFA should have nipped that publicity in the bud but (I'm not going to say they promoted it can't be arsed to prove that) they did nothing to stop it. Before the IFA mention bad weather year etc Joe public doesn't give a damn or is completly oblivious to how that has effected farmers this year - but you can be sure as hell be certain Joe Public hasn't forgotten the "good year" last year

Now if this march is to try to force public sector and social welfare cuts then i would support it wholeheartedly

However i get the distinct impression it is marching for the sake of marching - which in normal times is ok as nobody really cares - but in the current environment i think it could do a hell of a lot more damage than good

very good post!

whelan1

to rub salt in to the wounds the front of the journal has the big headline " land prices up 8%" along with the big displays of farm machinery at the ploughing next week the timing is all wrong

Birdnuts

Tipp Man wrote: »

I agree with every point you make above but

1) in the current economic environment REPS was never going to be able to survive - and i don't think the public would have any support for it to survive. Lets be honest it had a good run but was always a very likely target for the axe

Why REPS over any other scheme?? - most non-farmers I know are less hostile to schemes that protect countryside features(and benefit smaller farmers) then ones that tend to lead to their destruction or ones that subsidise the biggest, wealthiest farmers in the country.

Tipp Man

Birdnuts wrote: »

Why REPS over any other scheme?? - most non-farmers I know are less hostile to schemes that protect countryside features(and benefit smaller farmers) then ones that tend to lead to their destruction or ones that subsidise the biggest, wealthiest farmers in the country.

REPS is/was by far the biggest Irish government scheme so cutting it saved a lot of money directly for the government in a very easy manner.

They couldn't cut Single Payment as it is EU majority funded

What other major schemes are there still left worth talking about?

Birdnuts

Tipp Man wrote: »

REPS is/was by far the biggest Irish government scheme so cutting it saved a lot of money directly for the government in a very easy manner.

They couldn't cut Single Payment as it is EU majority funded

What other major schemes are there still left worth talking about?

The way the SFP is being spent needs to be looked at IMO - the government has a big say in this and the current messing about with regards to schemes like the DAS doesn't inspire confidence going forward.

Tipp Man

Birdnuts wrote: »

The way the SFP is being spent needs to be looked at IMO - the government has a big say in this and the current messing about with regards to schemes like the DAS doesn't inspire confidence going forward.

The SFP is a Europe funded scheme though - That is a major difference. The government has little to no say over it

Anyway the SFP is due to change over the next few years

Black Smoke

Just watching the news!!! 300 farmers blitzed supermarkets in portlaoise today with a so called flash protest.
One farmer spoofing that the supermarkets should pay the farmer more because of the increased costs due to bad weather!
When small businesses the country over get hammered with floods every so often, with shops and stock being destroyed, we don't hear IFA urging farmers to pay these same shopkeepers a bit of a premium to help them back on their feet!!
One lady customer interviewed had no pity for the farmers, as she put it, they get the college grants, while she didn't!!

rancher

Tipp Man wrote: »

3) No public sector spending cuts is definately something worth marching over - i'll gladly support you on that

Giving the public sector a 3% rise in salary is a sure sign they've bottled it on spending cuts and it looks like they're lining us up again

rancher

Tipp Man wrote: »

REPS is/was by far the biggest Irish government scheme so cutting it saved a lot of money directly for the government in a very easy manner.

They couldn't cut Single Payment as it is EU majority funded

What other major schemes are there still left worth talking about?

REPS was 50% funded from europe so to give out 2000000 only cost them 1000000, what percentage of that 2000000 spent in rural areas would go back to the government in taxes,at least 50%
Low SFP farmers really needed REPS, I think I demonstrated above that it was a net gain to the country.

Tipp Man

rancher wrote: »

REPS was 50% funded from europe so to give out 2000000 only cost them 1000000, what percentage of that 2000000 spent in rural areas would go back to the government in taxes,at least 50%
Low SFP farmers really needed REPS, I think I demonstrated above that it was a net gain to the country.

Again i agree completely that it was a stupid cut to make from an financial point of view - my point was that it was an easy cut to make as it was the largest scheme they could cut to save a good bit of money.

Personally i think that REPS had probably run its course - how much extra value was it creating environmentally in the last couple of years?? For most after being in it for 10 years or more it was just another way to collect money.

I see a full page advert for the march in the ploughing section of the journal and there isn't 1 mention of the Public Sector. I do see a couple of poor (IMO) reasons but nothing new.

So what i really want to know is this march about Public Sector or not???

5live

reilig wrote: »

Where did you get a figure for the average age of the posters? Is that for boards.ie users or specifically for Farming and forestry users? Certainly a large number of posters on the F & F forum are over 50 (not being ageist here).

You may need to run a poll to prove your theory!

As i said previously and going by accounts of people starting to farm and returning to farming from buildings etc, i reckon the average age is way closer to 30 than to 50. No other info, inside or out:)

But if you want to run a poll on ages of posters here i wont claim copyright on it. It could be a help on admin as you would get an age profile so they could better target ads to relevent sections, ie pensions to the more mature* older on here and lollipop sales to the younger;)

And i promise i wont bring up the inherent bias in voting when you already know the trends of the results, like the banning of publishing poll results in the days before a vote because of its ability to influence the results. See that? No mention at all:D

* mature isnt something that could be levelled at a lot of the posts on this subject and i include both sides in that

5live

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

The IFA is like all Unions (and that is what it is) it is now run by activists that think that they know what is best for us all. The inability to get new blood involved is an issue also it still has a perception that all farmers should be full time. A lot of the time it lobby's for changes that favour fulltime farmers over part time farmers. It also will allow change that will favour fulltime farmers.

Over the last 15 years it has taken decisions that effected in a negative way thesmaller farmer.

For example when the SFP was bought in there was a huge transfer of wealth from the West of Ireland to finishers.

The recent cuts to DA will again favour farmers (I know the more active ones) on better land as opposed to farmers in the poorer land area's.

Reps 4 which allowed bigger farmers access to it on minimum terms and large payments and has now seen the closure of any envoirmental scheme to farmers that were in it for years.

The IFA is NOT a union. The hint of that is in the name, Irish Farmers Association.;)

All joking aside, the rights and responsibilities of an association are way way different to a union and place a different onus of responsibility and ability to act and represent the members on its officers. Witness the last meat factory blockade and the necessity of the officers to resign when they crossed the line.

And from around that time, iirc, there was an article in the press outlining why farmers are not allowed to actually form a union