Would you support a new Rural Political Party

Most conventional margins are struggling too be it sheep, pork, poultry etc. and the vast majority of the current CAP is subsidizing that rather than organics etc. Thats why CAP needs serious reform to support sustaineable production instead of over production of basic agri commodities that simply benefits the middle men.

The CAP has been moving away from "Production Subs" since the McSharry reforms 30 years ago - this process will speed up dramatically as indicated by the main CAP funders post 2028, cos the likes of Ukraine joining would double the current 46 billion euro bill overnight. They are grappling with the same bloated structures in the US where 40% of corn production is effectively being burnt via the biofuel scam to put a floor under agri prices for US farmers. Just yesterday the EU Agri comm announced another 200 million euro package to protect grain farmers in the likes of Poland from markets being flooded by Ukrainian Grain. The simple fact is the costs of the current system are not adding up and as i pointed out in an earlier post, the vast majority of food price inflation in the last 2 years is down to logistics not production. In any case I do find it strange that many farmers like yourself seem to be happy to be whipping boys for everyone else in terms of margins, its like some kind of odd stockholm syndrome🤨

Do you really think if we went organic or the CAP was changed to some sort of green machine farmers would be better off?Not a hope in my opinion.

Said it a long time ago on here.What I do is sit down and look at whats available and focus on making the most of it taking into account my own personal circumstances (land area/quality,stock etc etc).Who gives two sh1tes once its making a return ?

No point in worrying about global warming when you can't afford the auld sliced pan and pound of rashers.

The only red line for me personally is trees as in my opinion once you plant land its ruined for generations.Our forefathers didn't spend lifetimes clearing,draining and improving land for the craic.

We really should get this thread back on topic I feel.Too much global warming doom mongering and not enough answers to the question or even what anyone would consider a good or bad policy.Keep the green stuff to a minimum.

My opinion for what its worth.Any new "rural party" would need first and foremost credible candidates who would have a decent support network of canvassers.Newly interested enthusiastic party workers soon lose interest and when you look at Facebook etc you see any amount of loo las shouting about ag. policy.Any of them I know in real life you wouldn't trust to mind your sheepdog let alone run the country.

Could any alternative (excluding the shinners) be any less harmful to rural Ireland than what we have at present ?A government where the sop to the minority party seems to be the price of staying in power .The problem is the sop will do lasting damage to the country long after Eamon and Pippa are but a distant memory unless many of their policies are reversed.

A google suggestion cap bidget from 2021 to 2027 is 365 billion.

Eu population is 750milion. So for just 81 euro per head per year the CAP has delivered good security. It’s a tiny amount.

1. Food production targets should be in the region of 20%.

2. Farmers are on the way to reaching that target and the government will not need to further incentivise.

Thank you.

The reason for low margins is due to overproduction in conventional systems - that has nothing to do with going organic. Also the current CAP still has requirements for min stocking rates to collect full SFP money, not to mention the damage done from penalizing farmers(up till very recently) who happened to leave some habitat for nature at a time of an ongoing biodiversity crisis. I would also throw in the near constant bailouts for loss making intensive systems like pigs and poultry etc.. Its not just about organic anyways, we need to wean farming off high chemical inputs for a long list of reasons(soil degradation, water pollution, growing antibiotic/herbicide/pesticide resistance issues etc.) any type of farming that achieves that is a win for farmers and the environment. As for health benefits, studies have shown that the nutrient quality of veg etc. has declined dramatically in the last 70 years since intensive farming techniques arrived

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2022/05/fruits-and-vegetables-are-less-nutritious-than-they-used-to-be

As I have pointed out several times, the main changes to affect farming coming down the line have nothing to do with Sleepy Eamon or any other Blueshirt biker. It will be shaped by the main CAP funders like Germany where any huffing and puffing from those here who want to cling to long outdated conceptions ie. frozen in the 1980's, of what farming and rural Ireland should b like(IFA and their fellow travellers), simply won't register.

Few points.

As far as I am aware there is no stocking rate requirement for SFP.There is nothing on the application re stock numbers etc etc.

What is " an ongoing biodiversity crisis" ? Sounds good but its meaningless.

Pugs and poultry production have not received constant bailouts .

Irish farmers have a lot less reliance on chemical or antibiotic inputs than many other countries.

In any case these are not always bad as many crops are unviable without them.

I would imagine any perceived quality drop would be much more related to breeding than any chemical inputs.

We cannot go back to a 1940's system and expect it to provide food at a level of availability and safety that we gave at present.

@Birdnuts - can you expand on what you mean by this statement from one of your above posts - “I am all for subs based on farms providing public goods based on sustainable food production”

People like you with such limited knowledge and intelligence should not have a vote. What a load of horse poo you have written there. Not a clue…..

Is it a crime to be profitable? It certainly is not a 9 to 5, 5 day week job.

Agree fully.

The only thing covering costs with 3 people on board is a private car, unless paying taxi fares.

Agree what you’re saying, our house can only sold to someone from the.local rural community and ties to The area

Germany and other big bill payers have indicated they want a total break from the likes of stocking rates and land ownership - subs will still be available but based wholly on the provision of public goods integrated into more sustaineable agri production methods ie. reduced chemical inputs, maintainance of landscape features etc. It is in any case totally unrealistic to expect these bill payers to implement a similar CAP as the EU expands further East, especcially when the likes of Ukraine alone has the ability to to nearly double the EU's entire agri output

Stuff like Carbon sequestration, water quality protection, flood control, Pollinator restoration, propagation of Crop and Animal genetics that are being lost etc . Much of which is at the centre of regenerative farming techniques

I think you taking the p*ss now frankly - wormer resistance highlights the shortcomings of the high chem input model you appear to be very keen on, not to mention all the other examples I quoted earlier that you conveniently ignored. |The penny on such things has even dropped with the likes of Teagasc who increasingly promote the likes of herbal low input leys for young stock health and less reliance on routine dosing.As for your comments on the biodiversity crises🙄 Just one example from this country alone concerning vital pollinators https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-s-bee-and-butterfly-populations-declining-report-finds-1.3927322