are we united or divided ?

kerry cow

I sometimes wonder could we farmers support each other better , have we become somewhat inward looking ,
like you could never see a co op ,be it for milk or mart been set up again from scratch .
you have to give alot of respect to the forefathers for foresight .

are we really been respected by the people we put their in societies to stand up for us , be it milk , beef or tillage ,
in that the price we recieve or what we have to pay for our inwards ,
it seems for whatever reason we are on our own , battle onward ,
like AIB and backing the brave a d yet selling out 120 farm families to vultures .

_Brian

kerry cow wrote: »

I sometimes wonder could we farmers support each other better , have we become somewhat inward looking ,
like you could never see a co op ,be it for milk or mart been set up again from scratch .
you have to give alot of respect to the forefathers for foresight .

are we really been respected by the people we put their in societies to stand up for us , be it milk , beef or tillage ,
in that the price we recieve or what we have to pay for our inwards ,
it seems for whatever reason we are on our own , battle onward ,
like AIB and backing the brave a d yet selling out 120 farm families to vultures .

Our society has moved on.
Most Irish people are now a few generations removed from being farm families and so have zero respect for farming. As long as their vac packed “meat” is cheap and cheery they don’t care. Same for milk, pork chicken and eggs. It’s all a price point now just commodities not food, no more you are what you eat.

Maybe this new representative body will change things, maybe it won’t, maybe it will make the old guard sit up and realise they’ve alienated allot of farmers over the years with poor representation.

I’ve seen as much about IBEC plans for farming recently than I have plans from Teagasc or angle represented farming body. I took classes with IBEC when I was doing my degree, they’re ruthless and you can be sure they will throw farming under the train to keep their members afloat, yet I’d be sure they are seen as impartial and so their message will gain traction with the blue shirts.

You mention “co-op”, have we an actual coop left where they pay the maximum to farmers and only hold enough themselves to cover costs. Gone are the days the board met every month to ensure they paid the most possible to farmers. Aren’t they all plc’s now ?? And the job of a plc is to make as much profit for its shareholders as possible by stamping on suppliers and gaining max retail prices.

Waffletraktor

Any farm not producing to the top of the market has no future. Costs associated with being in a wealthy western country are too high for commodities.

Say my name

There's an American story in this but the theme is universal.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012019/climate-change-agriculture-farming-consolidation-corn-soybeans-meat-crop-subsidies?utm_campaign=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_term=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0vDYUTcuyepIAN-kbXfj6a-O93Sx-Fp8fNpy3ulSUnHCoOJ-jwg6pgTVw

The central theme is consolidation, subsidization, globalisation and mechanization.


If you're looking for a model to follow maybe look east to the organic Austrian idea. But then they have the consumers on their doorstep.