Ifa working for the farmer

charityboy

I was reading on an other thread about how the ifa are not doing this and not doing that ( I'm not a member ). Is there anybody on here who they have actually fought some case or another for Surely there must be some success stories with them .I have been approached a couple of times for membership and would gladly join if i taught my money was going to a group that are on the ground fighting hard for there members , not much point getting cheaper phone esb etc if your money is also keeping some git in a job that is only interested in the money

TUBBY

this could be a short thread. its a lot easier give out about any organisation than praise it. Its also the Irish way.

PS rancher, you are banned from this thread:)

rancher

TUBBY wrote: »

this could be a short thread. its a lot easier give out about any organisation than praise it. Its also the Irish way.

PS rancher, you are banned from this thread:)

We spent €1.3 m sourcing and transporting fodder from abroad, apart from what we organised around the country, it'll be interesting to see who'll own up to getting some of that

Conmaicne Mara

rancher wrote: »

We spent €1.3 m sourcing and transporting fodder from abroad, apart from what we organised around the country, it'll be interesting to see who'll own up to getting some of that

I didn't take the foreign hay Didn't need it.

One gripe I have about it is our branch chairman had to go East and kick up a fuss to get some to farmers over here. Reason being there are no co-ops here. A local trucker and lads he knew went to the UK and brought fodder back.

TUBBY

Rancher, I am coming from your side on this one. For all our giving out, the IFA do a good job on certain things and are at least a voice. Big lobbying body is prob my main praise of them when it is mobilized.

As regards the membership mentioned by OP, you more or less get it back with deduction for members with FBD.

rancher

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I didn't take the foreign hay Didn't need it.

One gripe I have about it is our branch chairman had to go East and kick up a fuss to get some to farmers over here. Reason being there are no co-ops here. A local trucker and lads he knew went to the UK and brought fodder back.

I had to get a local merchant to do it, to get it into the area, because of the amount of money you had to have office facilities at the depot

munkus

Rancher,
Correct me if I'm wrong. Between 10 and 15 years ago the IFA were protesting regarding factory prices. In retaliation, Larry stopped collecting the IFA leavy from his factories. As a result the IFA backed off. Is this true?

Have heard this time and again from the auld lad but was too young to notice at the time.

P.S fair play to ya for sticking to your guns on this forum, not easy at times.

bob charles

I conveyed problems I had on two fronts, they had no interest in taking on one issue as they said the farmer always looses, even though Im completely in the right and on the other issue they are to get back to me - thats about 2 years ago now, maybe they might call Monday

whelan1

the ifa has changed from what it was years ago, my father did alot of work for farmers who where in trouble with banks etc, he was away most nights doing ifa work. I believe ifa was then "a real voice for the farmer" Things have changes people dont have time for meetings most nights of the week or the time or the commitment involved to make things work like they did years ago. The ifa has to change, i dont know how. From reading here there are very few who have anything positive to say about them. I also think every farmer should be asked do they want to pay the ifa levy off their cheque in mart/factory as as it is it is theft. Alot of farmers have built up resentment over the big farmer/ small farmer divide. There is no need for meetings in local halls/pubs alot of ifa stuff could be done online. Finally fair play to rancher i do not know how anyone could come on here day in and day out and stand up for the ifa continuously.

rancher

munkus wrote: »

Rancher,
Correct me if I'm wrong. Between 10 and 15 years ago the IFA were protesting regarding factory prices. In retaliation, Larry stopped collecting the IFA leavy from his factories. As a result the IFA backed off. Is this true?

Have heard this time and again from the auld lad but was too young to notice at the time.

P.S fair play to ya for sticking to your guns on this forum, not easy at times.

You ask any farmer on national commitees do they care where the money comes from to fund the organisation, they'll tell you the same as me, we don't give a sh...t.
We blockaded the factories in 2000 to get 90p/lb and had to man the blockades 24/7, twas a great time, great support from farmers and plenty abuse from farmers who wanted to kill cattle too, my own cattle were due to be killed the first morning, took us 3 week to get 90p, then we started to get fines of£500000/day with the threat of a millon/day, most factories gave in and I got 90p, so we had to pull back.
Only lasted a few weeks until the first sellers took less than 90p and then it was broke,
but it means we can never blockade again.

rancher

TUBBY wrote: »

Rancher, I am coming from your side on this one. For all our giving out, the IFA do a good job on certain things and are at least a voice. Big lobbying body is prob my main praise of them when it is mobilized.

As regards the membership mentioned by OP, you more or less get it back with deduction for members with FBD.

I don't harp on that but it's true, its only costing you the levy really to fund the organisation, and the accident insurance has given people a help after a death or a bad accident.
I have no fears about going out as guest speaker to the branch meetings next week after the training I've got here,

keep going

People who have problems with the ifa should do one of 3 things .1get involved and change it from the inside.2start a rival organisation and do it right.3 shut up.they aint perfect but unless im prepared to plough in the time im in no position to comment

mahoney_j

keep going wrote: »

People who have problems with the ifa should do one of 3 things .1get involved and change it from the inside.2start a rival organisation and do it right.3 shut up.they aint perfect but unless im prepared to plough in the time im in no position to comment

I got shoe horned into chairmanship job 4 years ago cause none of the other 10 people at meeting wanted it and existing 4 officers couldn't go again.10 members out of 140 turned up and average age was late fortys.one thing that really irked me after a few north executive meetings etc was timekeeping .a meeting scheduled for 8 o clock would be doing well to kick off by 8.45 and carry on till 11 or 11.30 with the same lads winging and moaning about stupid things .our county chairman would casually stroll it half an hour late and start making small talk with attendees .i raised this with him numerous times and was just fobbed off.i caused a bit of a stir when at my first Agm I started our meeting on time and was finished out the door by 9.45.lads strolling in at 8.45 and 9 were disgusted I didn't wait for them.the few like myself that are always punctual thanked me for it.all the old school ifa lads are unwilling to change and fail to see the obvious faults with the organisation.
From my limited time canvassing for current elections lads on the ground couldn't give 2 hoots about who is running or about ifa politics.a lot of lads like me are bitter as to why more time and effort wasn't put into fighting real on the ground issues like quota abolition and fighting tooth and nail for a soft landing and the soft way installation aid and early retirement em we're let go.my final Agm as chairman is this Monday and I'm washing my hands of my chairmanship job as my view on certain things was just fobbed off and was given the impression I'm only a young lad and I've loads to learn about how the system works even though I'm 34.i have lots to learn yes but I couldn't be bothered trying to change things in an organisation that won't change.i recently got onto the board of my local coop ,much more interesting and views are taken and respected.

Conmaicne Mara

We get a fairly good crowd, last agm had over 80 people, biggest branch in the county but largely our issues are ignored. Next agm is coming up soon. I got a job last time out, two rounds were done of the room before I reluctantly agreed to take a position no one wanted. Our chairman job is up this time and I've no idea who'll go into it. There are a few characters I won't work with in the job as they're totally for themselves. So they might be looking to fill two positions sooner than they think.

Like Mahoney I've a few issues raised and get the same impression, don't rock the boat, go away. The usual characters whispering into each others ears. One man isn't talking to me this week over something I said last week, well tough titty, the truth hurts.

It's easy to say go in and change it, actually doing it is another job of work. I hate the politics in it and there is plenty.

rancher

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

We get a fairly good crowd, last agm had over 80 people, biggest branch in the county but largely our issues are ignored. Next agm is coming up soon. I got a job last time out, two rounds were done of the room before I reluctantly agreed to take a position no one wanted. Our chairman job is up this time and I've no idea who'll go into it. There are a few characters I won't work with in the job as they're totally for themselves. So they might be looking to fill two positions sooner than they think.

Like Mahoney I've a few issues raised and get the same impression, don't rock the boat, go away. The usual characters whispering into each others ears. One man isn't talking to me this week over something I said last week, well tough titty, the truth hurts.

It's easy to say go in and change it, actually doing it is another job of work. I hate the politics in it and there is plenty.

Same all over, three regional chairman going In practically un opposed once they got out of the county is a sign of things to come.
National positions are too serious to have people pushed into, you have to want it

milkprofit

whelan1 wrote: »

the ifa has changed from what it was years ago, my father did alot of work for farmers who where in trouble with banks etc, he was away most nights doing ifa work. I believe ifa was then "a real voice for the farmer" Things have changes people dont have time for meetings most nights of the week or the time or the commitment involved to make things work like they did years ago. The ifa has to change, i dont know how. From reading here there are very few who have anything positive to say about them.

Agree i was very involved up to about 10 yr ago we relay worked for the man on ground then got problem solved for farmer with the department even though it took 10 years
Ifa has lost contact with members
they are too busy coseing up to government to get a job when they retire
this problem has to be tackled

Rho b

milkprofit wrote: »

whelan1 wrote: »

the ifa has changed from what it was years ago, my father did alot of work for farmers who where in trouble with banks etc, he was away most nights doing ifa work. I believe ifa was then "a real voice for the farmer" Things have changes people dont have time for meetings most nights of the week or the time or the commitment involved to make things work like they did years ago. The ifa has to change, i dont know how. From reading here there are very few who have anything positive to say about them.

Agree i was very involved up to about 10 yr ago we relay worked for the man on ground then got problem solved for farmer with the department even though it took 10 years
Ifa has lost contact with members
they are too busy coseing up to government to get a job when they retire
this problem has to be tackled

I think the National Executive of the IFA are totally out of touch but I do think that local representatives (in most cases) try their best.
15 years ago or so there was a pipeline going through some of our land. We attended several information meetings at the local Teagasc offices regarding the project. The official IFA National Negotiator recommended that we accept a certain figure per wayleave metre for disturbance during the works which would be up to two years. A local man who was a dairy farmer disagreed with the figure and suggested that the IFA were in cohoots with ESB, Local Authorities etc and that just because there was some sort of "secret" agreement in place that we should not jump and accept the figure. After several other meetings we united as a group and elected 5 representatives to deal with the organisation. We got nearly double the compensation per metre.
On the other hand I did stand at a factory blockade for several days/nights in 2000 because I believed that it was the right thing to do at the time. There were dairy farmers, sheep farmers, tillage farmers, fruit/veg farmers all supporting the beef sector, standing with us day and night. Also helped that some of the tillage guys brought big semi mounted/reversible ploughs to add a bit of weight to the blockade. It was a tough time but it was great to have so much support and it really brought home to me how small our collective farming community actually is.

I really believe that we need some sort of collective representation but I also believe that when some people get a label pinned to their lapel they loose sight of their original beliefs in favour of climbing that political ladder.

The IFA Executive needs to get back in touch with its grass roots otherwise it will bite the bullet due to lack of support and more importantly financial contribution.

Dont be daft

charityboy wrote: »

Is there anybody on here who they have actually fought some case or another for Surely there must be some success stories with them

There are lots. I can personally vouch for a few cases which had an IFA presence.
They get a massive amount of stick from within the farming community but in one of lifes true ironies, from outside of farming they're considered a pretty powerful and formidable lobby group.

If you want a public example of a case they fought take a look at the ATV registration and taxation fiasco. Its taken a long time to make progress on it (you could blame a certain political party for that) but what has been made is significant.

Rho b

rancher wrote: »

That was a foolish man, he should known not to recommend anything, surprised coming from a high up guy.
The line now is we try to get the best offer we can and then put it to members as a base, like in your case it's up to everyone then to do a deal
I'm on the IFA executive council and as county chairman I'm in contact every day with my neighbours. Your last paragraph doesn't make any sense

That was a foolish man, he should known not to recommend anything, surprised coming from a high up guy.
He was the Official IFA Negotiator who at the time had and was dealing with the ESB, County Councils/Local Authorities etc on a Nationwide bases.
Your last paragraph doesn't make any sense
I cannot understand why it doesn't make sense to you?
No funds/lack of support = no organisation.
As I said I do believe and support the fact that we do need some sort of collective organisation or a group of organisations to represent us on a EU level.
However, I will still stand by what I posted earlier - the IFA Executive needs to get back in touch with the grass root level and forget about high falutin jobs in Brussels or where ever.

Oh by the way rancher, you referenced milkprofit in the post when it was actually me that wrote that post.....

ravima

There is a €75 discount on FBD Insurance policies if you're a member. There's also a personal accident and sickness policy thrown in. Whilst the benefits here are fairly basic, there's more than a handful of us who had no other policy in force and relied on the few quid that the IFA policy paid.

On the downside, they really didn't fight for all when some lost disadvantaged area grant due to the stocking density changes. also with the SFP, they seem to be on the side of those who already hold big payments and against either linking payment to production or else a flat rate, which would help progressive young farmers who's parents had very small SFP's.

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

That was a foolish man, he should known not to recommend anything, surprised coming from a high up guy.
He was the Official IFA Negotiator who at the time had and was dealing with the ESB, County Councils/Local Authorities etc on a Nationwide bases.
Your last paragraph doesn't make any sense
I cannot understand why it doesn't make sense to you?
No funds/lack of support = no organisation.
As I said I do believe and support the fact that we do need some sort of collective organisation or a group of organisations to represent us on a EU level.
However, I will still stand by what I posted earlier - the IFA Executive needs to get back in touch with the grass root level and forget about high falutin jobs in Brussels or where ever.

Oh by the way rancher, you referenced milkprofit in the post when it was actually me that wrote that post.....

You say he shouldn't have recommended it and so do I so we agree.
I'm dealing with loads of problem on the ground, county council, board works, bord na mona SFP I'm in touch with the grass roots, that's why I didn't understand the last paragraph. sorry for getting quote wrong, I just pressed quote and that's the way it came up will delete

Rho b

rancher wrote: »

You say he shouldn't have recommended it and so do I so we agree.
I'm dealing with loads of problem on the ground, county council, board works, bord na mona SFP I'm in touch with the grass roots, that's why I didn't understand the last paragraph. sorry for getting quote wrong, I just pressed quote and that's the way it came up will delete

No problem
Regarding the IFA Official National Negotiator and the pipeline - his advice left an awful soar taste with a lot of farmers and landowners in the area.
Can I ask you a question if you do not mind. Would the Negotiator have received a salary from the IFA? At the time it was insinuated that he was an employee of the IFA.

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

No problem
Regarding the IFA Official National Negotiator and the pipeline - his advice left an awful soar taste with a lot of farmers and landowners in the area.
Can I ask you a question if you do not mind. Would the Negotiator have received a salary from the IFA? At the time it was insinuated that he was an employee of the IFA.[/QUOTE

Can only tell you about road CPOs. IFA recommends consultants to farmers and county council pays them, but you have to push them hard and be tough yourself.
Jer Bergin was involved in negotiations too but he'd only be on expenses,
Jim Devlin did negotiations too and he'd be on the paid staff, he has left now. If you PM a name I might be able to tell you if it was in the last ten years

Rho b

rancher as I previously posted it was 15 years ago. Unless I go up into the attic and pull down the old paperwork for to get his name, which I am not going to do tonight. If I get the urge to do so when I am up there getting the Christmas decorations during the week then I will pm you with his name.
Anyway, it is all now water under the bridge.
However recently (within the last 6 years) we had a situation where we contacted the IFA for assistance in a matter relating to some work that was done in the yard. A company was employed to do the work and it was carried out. However before receiving the final payment from us (about 15K) the company went into liquidation within 2 weeks of the completion of the work. Due to the nature of the work a guarantee was required for the job but because the company no longer existed we could not get the said guarantee. We withheld the final payment of the 15K. A financial organisation eventually took over the affairs of the company and actively and aggressively perused us for the balance money. After consultation with the IFA, they recommended that we pay the 15k and worked out a schedule of payments over 36 months so that it would be easier on us. However we still would not receive our guarantee.
We consulted our solicitor as we felt that the guarantee was paramount.
To cut a long story short, our solicitor (great woman) has got the financial company to feck off over the sunset. We still do not have our guarantee for the works carried out but we are 15K better off and it only cost us a couple of hundred with the solicitor.

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

rancher as I previously posted it was 15 years ago. Unless I go up into the attic and pull down the old paperwork for to get his name, which I am not going to do tonight. If I get the urge to do so when I am up there getting the Christmas decorations during the week then I will pm you with his name.
Anyway, it is all now water under the bridge.
However recently (within the last 6 years) we had a situation where we contacted the IFA for assistance in a matter relating to some work that was done in the yard. A company was employed to do the work and it was carried out. However before receiving the final payment from us (about 15K) the company went into liquidation within 2 weeks of the completion of the work. Due to the nature of the work a guarantee was required for the job but because the company no longer existed we could not get the said guarantee. We withheld the final payment of the 15K. A financial organisation eventually took over the affairs of the company and actively and aggressively perused us for the balance money. After consultation with the IFA, they recommended that we pay the 15k and worked out a schedule of payments over 36 months so that it would be easier on us. However we still would not receive our guarantee.
We consulted our solicitor as we felt that the guarantee was paramount.
To cut a long story short, our solicitor (great woman) has got the financial company to feck off over the sunset. We still do not have our guarantee for the works carried out but we are 15K better off and it only cost us a couple of hundred with the solicitor.

Point taken, hope you told them ...James Staines is their legal advice, thought he was good

Rho b

rancher wrote: »

Point taken, hope you told them ...James Staines is their legal advice, thought he was good

Is he based in the Leinster region? The name does not ring a bell and we are based in the Leinster region.

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

Is he based in the Leinster region? The name does not ring a bell and we are based in the Leinster region.

He's a Dublin solicitor, does all their legal work, as a member you're entitled to ask one question/uear Ithink

Rho b

Thanks rancher but he was not the guy that we were speaking to at the time. Maybe it was one of his minions?? Irrespective we got the situation sorted
However that does not detract from my belief that as farmers we need representation in Cabinet and EU level. Most of us do not have the time or possibly the education/degrees to peruse that road but I do believe that the higher echelons of the IFA seem to forget their roots and the local farming communities where they came from - especially when it comes to dealing with the suits.

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

Thanks rancher but he was not the guy that we were speaking to at the time. Maybe it was one of his minions?? Irrespective we got the situation sorted
However that does not detract from my belief that as farmers we need representation in Cabinet and EU level. Most of us do not have the time or possibly the education/degrees to peruse that road but I do believe that the higher echelons of the IFA seem to forget their roots and the local farming communities where they came from - especially when it comes to dealing with the suits.

Agreed, I look forward to the guys that have ag degrees that are farming coming on to the commitees, university can give them great training

Rho b

rancher wrote: »

Agreed, I look forward to the guys that have ag degrees that are farming coming on to the commitees, university can give them great training

Fingers crossed, older/experienced people like you, I and others can help to temper and balance their university training

rancher

Rho b wrote: »

Fingers crossed, older/experienced people like you, I and others can help to temper and balance their university training

whatever about you, but I have a great future behind me at this stage, lol

Rho b

rancher wrote: »

whatever about you, but I have a great future behind me at this stage, lol

Well best of luck and I hope your good fortune remains with you

jersey101

AI technician was here this morning, not my usual one but ge was asking are we going to be pushing up in cow numbers after 2015, and naturally we said yes and that we have all these heifers coming on that will be calving down this year and next spring and we dont want a superlevy but its looking unavoidable and he was saying that IFA are trying to get quotas to stop in january 2015, Now if the IFA manage to do this it will be brilliant because it will get alot of farmers out of bother

rancher

jersey101 wrote: »

AI technician was here this morning, not my usual one but ge was asking are we going to be pushing up in cow numbers after 2015, and naturally we said yes and that we have all these heifers coming on that will be calving down this year and next spring and we dont want a superlevy but its looking unavoidable and he was saying that IFA are trying to get quotas to stop in january 2015, Now if the IFA manage to do this it will be brilliant because it will get alot of farmers out of bother

You can take it from me its unlikely to happen, apparently if it was put to a vote across Europe at the moment, the vote going for the abolition of quotas could not be guaranteed. But seeing that it's the EU and everything can change on the stroke of a pen I'll give it a 5% chance

Mac Taylor

Had two of Downeys reps here. Never been involved with the IFA apart from paying sub. What's the story with the vote? Does each branch have just one vote?

Also, do the the IFA have any interest in the part-time farmer?

rancher

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Had two of Downeys reps here. Never been involved with the IFA apart from paying sub. What's the story with the vote? Does each branch have just one vote?

Also, do the the IFA have any interest in the part-time farmer?

One vote for every 25 I think voting on the night, wouldn't be sure of that number but whoever wins the branch gets all the votes.
Part time farmers are the majority in the drystock sector so it depnds how many want to be involved

poor farmer

rancher wrote: »

One vote for every 25 I think voting on the night, wouldn't be sure of that number but whoever wins the branch gets all the votes.
Part time farmers are the majority in the drystock sector so it depnds how many want to be involved

The branch must have 8 votes to get 1 vote . 25 voters and the branch has 2 votes

delaval

poor farmer wrote: »

The branch must have 8 votes to get 1 vote . 25 voters and the branch has 2 votes

Correct.
Up to 24 1 vote
25 to 49 2
Etc, etc