You have a 1 hour meeting with the new Agriculture Minister

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

djmc

More focus on disadvantaged land
Problem it's been abandoned as there is no profit farming it leading to more rural decline.
Solution pay Das where it's needed as was originally planned based on land type.
Also grant aid for lime based on soil sample results.
A review on restrictions placed on desegnated land based on science and land type rather than a blanket ban which we have at the moment
Finally buying practice of supermarkets.
Weight restrictions and buying below the cost of production.
All would help farmers be more productive in areas where it's needed most.

MIKEKC

djmc wrote: »

More focus on disadvantaged land
Problem it's been abandoned as there is no profit farming it leading to more rural decline.
Solution pay Das where it's needed as was originally planned based on land type.
Also grant aid for lime based on soil sample results.
A review on restrictions placed on desegnated land based on science and land type rather than a blanket ban which we have at the moment
Finally buying practice of supermarkets.
Weight restrictions and buying below the cost of production.
All would help farmers be more productive in areas where it's needed most.

Agree with most points, but a grant for lime is surely a joke ? €22 per ton. Spread 2tn/acre every 5 years. Less than €9/acre/year

my friend

1 hour and 3 topics hah!

Anyone worth talking to you'd do well to get 60 seconds and 1 pitch

Willfarman

Sheep tagging. The current form is a beurocratic impractical system with little real traceability. Also if department personal are insistent on hoggets having a lambs mouth. Then ensure that 2 tooth hoggets that farmers are penalised heftily for do not get sold as lamb. Corruption is rife. Do not encourage more ewe numbers through subs or anything else.

Mechanical grading machines. Factory personal should have no hand or part in calibrating them.

Help reestablish some some small abattoirs and butchers shops nationwide. Enforce eu regulation in a similar manner to other eu countries. Encourage small breweries distillers, cheese makers, bakeries, and all small to medium niche market food Production and processing.

Live cattle export. Get boats inspected and passed in a timelely fashion.

And finally reestablish a link between farm grants and active farm production and environmental works and not land ownership. A sense Entitlement used to get you the guillotine in France!

More than 3 issues I know but f it I'm only getting one chance to vent steam at him!

djmc

MIKEKC wrote: »

Agree with most points, but a grant for lime is surely a joke ? €22 per ton. Spread 2tn/acre every 5 years. Less than €9/acre/year

No joke some land around here needs around 8 ton an acre or 2 ton per year ongoing as rainfall levels will wash lime out.
No lime to be got at 22 per ton either more like 26 if they can spread
it a lot of ground can only be travelled with a quad and granular lime.
If lads aren't making money then they can't afford it at any price.

Cavanjack

I know there is more to ask than about grants but here are a few quick ones for him.
Why not give grants for land reclamation rather than every grand being for concrete and steel.
Why give grants for sheep fencing and not cattle fencing.
The unfairness of payments. How can the single farm payment be paid on what was being produced on a farm 15 years ago.

Sam Kade

Board Bia have too much paperwork, there's enough work to do on the farm without spending time at night writing. Why not have a computer program instead of all the paperwork. If you buy a bag of ration everything on the docket must be recorded, such nonsense. Then they go on about health and safety, not much health and safety if you have a mountain of paperwork after a long days work.

Dawggone

A one hour boozy lunch in the likes of Thorntons in Stephens Green paid for by the tax payer...lovely.

:)


What I'd suggest he look closely at is giving the Competition Authority a boot up the rear.

_Brian

Farming on marginal land needs serious discussion on how practical it is to continue.
To be profitable it needs much more support but really how practical is that ??

Perhaps the grim truth of plantation is more a real avenue that should be persued by more.

djmc

Forestry not allowed on desegnated land around here.
The only problem I have with forestry is the family farming the land for generations seem to move away within a generation after plantation leading to more rural decline.
Marginal land has supported familys for hundreds of years it's only the last 20 that it's become unprofitable.
I'd rather see farmers staying in these areas for the community an wildlife but understand completely why people plant their land as they have to live too.

Miname

The competition authority to be a bit more pro active or even active for that matter. To open up live exports of cattle properly and create new opportunities. And maybe even try to get some form of alternative to Larry taking completely over.

Capercaillie

430 million euros (given by EU) which was earmarked for Natura 2000 farmers to farm in an environmentally friendly way. They money was diverted (robbed) and should be returned. Expansion of NPWS farm plans.