IFA Protest Dublin 31st Aug 2015

solerina · 01-09-2015 12:09PM

adam14 wrote: »

IFA are rapidly going downhill. Young farmers don't support them. All they do is protect the larger older farmers and try to protect their SFP's based on the work they did 15 years ago! They need a reality check.

Totally agree, am sick of seeing the old lads around us who did a lot of work 20 yrs ago but have done nothing for the last 5-8 still raking it in. Lads on the pension really shouldn't be getting huge payments if they are actually not actively farming !! The IFA actively support these lads at the expense of the young farmer.

Farmer Pudsey · 01-09-2015 12:11PM

rangler1 wrote: »

It's one thing I sympathise with the public on,I hate the smell of slurry,
Surely there's something to neutralise it, have a village near me that has intensive slurry on three sides of it and it really whiffs

The smell you get from slurry is ammonia. The stronger the smell the more money going up in the air. By spreading in early spring or autumn you increase the availability of N and decrease the smell.

Teagase often underestimate the availaibility oN they quote maz of 20% or 8 units/1K gallons. IMO it can be higher than this. this is why lads often think high levels ofslurry makes silage sour. They only allow 8/1K gallons. IMO it can be way higher up to double in right conditions.

If you want no smell add burnt lime at agitating........but you will have no N either. I think Teagasc need to do investigation in to the slurry bio and bug solutions to see if any fix N in large quanties.

I think you are trying to derail this IFA thread with these remarks rangler:D

whelan2 wrote: »

is that not why the protests should be in the supermarkets, the ordinary joe soap wont bat an eyelid to a protest on the streets of Dublin, by going to the supermarkets and explaining the problem maybe people will understand. By having protests in Dublin you are only annoying people, as some one said here before give out free milk, meat or what ever and let the consumer know that the processors etc are screwing us

No point in blocking supermarkets we only use 10% of farm produce supplied. We are exposed to internation prices especially milk.

The main reason I left the IFA is it refusal to contenance going to the Competition Authority. We all know they have investigated the processors however we should be constantly forcing the issue on them. It is obivious that there is a cartel by the way prices are dropped ion unison.

Also you have the issue wiith processors owning and controlling feedlots. I have no issue with contracts however I have issues where processors own feedlots, finance them and control them. This is not allowed in the US it should not be allowed here.

Also if you get nowhere with the Irish CA it should be complianing to the EU CA. An invidual farmer that would try to do thsi would be crufied by the processors. We have all heard storied of lads finding it hard to get cattle slaughtered after an argument with an procurement manager.

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 12:21PM

adam14 wrote: »

IFA are rapidly going downhill. Young farmers don't support them. All they do is protect the larger older farmers and try to protect their SFP's based on the work they did 15 years ago! They need a reality check.

This has been done to death, same sort of posts for as long as I'm here, yet the organisation has gone from strength to strength, membership always going up, heck €2m was put into the emergency fund last year. farmers know that they need representation and are prepared to pay.
The representatives are just farmers doing something they have an interest in and its a bit immature to highlight 1 or 2 out of maybe 50 -60 members of the national executive that go on to politics.
I'm very happy that they defended the SFP and rightly so and there's un grateful young people on here that would be getting a much smaller cheque in October but for the stand we took and some are the most vocal here against IFA. and I'd guarantee that the majority of young farmers have stepped into their parents SFP

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 12:32PM

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

The smell you get from slurry is ammonia. The stronger the smell the more money going up in the air. By spreading in early spring or autumn you increase the availability of N and decrease the smell.

Teagase often underestimate the availaibility oN they quote maz of 20% or 8 units/1K gallons. IMO it can be higher than this. this is why lads often think high levels ofslurry makes silage sour. They only allow 8/1K gallons. IMO it can be way higher up to double in right conditions.

If you want no smell add burnt lime at agitating........but you will have no N either. I think Teagasc need to do investigation in to the slurry bio and bug solutions to see if any fix N in large quanties.

I think you are trying to derail this IFA thread with these remarks rangler:D

No point in blocking supermarkets we only use 10% of farm produce supplied. We are exposed to internation prices especially milk.

The main reason I left the IFA is it refusal to contenance going to the Competition Authority. We all know they have investigated the processors however we should be constantly forcing the issue on them. It is obivious that there is a cartel by the way prices are dropped ion unison.

Also you have the issue wiith processors owning and controlling feedlots. I have no issue with contracts however I have issues where processors own feedlots, finance them and control them. This is not allowed in the US it should not be allowed here.

Also if you get nowhere with the Irish CA it should be complianing to the EU CA. An invidual farmer that would try to do thsi would be crufied by the processors. We have all heard storied of lads finding it hard to get cattle slaughtered after an argument with an procurement manager.

That's wrong anyway, it was brought to Europe, do you want it put up on the journal that's there's no cartel in beef processors and that has been found at Irish and eu level

kowtow · 01-09-2015 12:39PM

_Brian wrote: »

I suppose my point is that if traditional farming declines in the whole as it has in the US then more and more junk food moves in to take the place of properly produced and prepared foods..
We make a specific effort to buy Irish farmed produce, supports irish farms, less air miles, probably fresher and better too..

I don't want sympathy for farmers, I want to see the industry supported by the population it should be feeding..

+1000 Very well put.

And while we all complain about Global milk prices, farmers incomes, and intensive specialisation (now that we can't actually eat what we produce we need money instead I suppose) actually the world around us is changing in some weird ways.

In plenty of countries buying local has begun - again - to become a "thing". Whether it is to support the domestic economy, for traceability, or because people have begun to dislike the corporate elites which we all now produce for, it doesn't matter much.

Globalisation and food might just not mix as well as we thought.

kowtow · 01-09-2015 12:44PM

AP2014 wrote: »

Yesterday's protest was embarrassing stuff,

Too right.

Irish children, adults, and news presenters have spent two weeks talking about a youtube clip of a cow in an English supermarket.

A cow which - by the way - was almost certainly invited by the supermarket PR people. They've done brilliantly out of it, the public are sympathetic, and the farmers have furthered their cause.

How many across Europe are watching clips of yesterdays events in Dublin?

whelan2 · 01-09-2015 12:51PM

pedigree 6 wrote: »

I know but the urban public maybe even some in rural areas call this waste. This is natures fertiliser. If anyone wants to pay me to take it away from them I'll take any amount you have.:D

the good answer if some one complains about the smell of slurry is " I assume yours smells of roses"

Base price · 01-09-2015 01:09PM

Willfarman wrote: »

There's personal liability insurance in the membership. A voucher for fbd. Not sure if that's worth the paper its wrote on?

As another poster said with regard to the livestock levies, these should be going to an independent monitoring body to ensure the grading machines, trimming and weighing scales
are consistent everywhere and are not being tweaked in the processors favour.

As I have posted previously - in Ireland the NSAI are the approved authority responsible for implementing the legislation governing the accuracy of measuring equipment.
When tillage farmers arrive with tractor/trailer onto the weighbridge at the grain merchants, that weighbridge has to be certified and checked at specific intervals.
When the milk tanker arrives to the dairy farmer and collects X litres of milk, that flow meter has to be certified and checked at specific intervals.
When you and I go to the garage forecourt and fill up with petrol/diesel those flow meters have to be checked....
NSAI has the power to prosecute for breaches of the legislation.
My personal opinion is that the independent supervision of VIA (Video Image Analysis) machines in Irish meat factories is a very hot potato that few dare to handle other than a few of us on here shouting about it :mad:

http://www.nsai.ie/About-NSAI/Departments/LMS.aspx

kowtow · 01-09-2015 01:23PM

If the IFA really wanted to be useful they should simply demand that food traceability is two way.

If the supermarket has the right to look right back through the database to the farm a beast came from, the farmer should have an equal right to see where the carcass moved all the way through the chain and where it ended up being sold.

By definition the technology is already there, paid for in large part by farmers, and the paperwork & physical work of tagging + compliance has already been taken on by farmers without direct benefit.

So let us see, directly and transparently, where our produce ends up being sold.

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 01:33PM

Base price wrote: »

As I have posted previously - in Ireland the NSAI are the approved authority responsible for implementing the legislation governing the accuracy of measuring equipment.
When tillage farmers arrive with tractor/trailer onto the weighbridge at the grain merchants, that weighbridge has to be certified and checked at specific intervals.
When the milk tanker arrives to the dairy farmer and collects X litres of milk, that flow meter has to be certified and checked at specific intervals.
When you and I go to the garage forecourt and fill up with petrol/diesel those flow meters have to be checked....
NSAI has the power to prosecute for breaches of the legislation.
My personal opinion is that the independent supervision of VIA (Video Image Analysis) machines in Irish meat factories is a very hot potato that few dare to handle other than a few of us on here shouting about it :mad:

http://www.nsai.ie/About-NSAI/Departments/LMS.aspx

Does the department of ag not monitor the grading, Isaw them at it down in slaney

pedigree 6 · 01-09-2015 01:39PM

Base price wrote: »

When the milk tanker arrives to the dairy farmer and collects X litres of milk, that flow meter has to be certified and checked at specific intervals.

I hope so because when a certain lorry collected from us the amount was down 10% and everyone else's collection was down aswell. However it was proven to be tankers fault and the next collection missing litres were added onto that collection.:rolleyes:

Lucy Anne · 01-09-2015 01:39PM

The milk PR stunt in England was fantastic. That's the kind of thing the IFA should be trying to do. It didn't cost a fortune and as people have said it went viral and really brought the message home to the consumer. Personally I wouldn't have a problem paying 40 cent more for 2 litres of milk if that money went to the farmer. I think people in cities are sympathetic and hate to see the producer doing so badly in all farming sectors. This is the point the IFA should be trying to educate the wider public on - of how little of the price paid in a supermarket goes to the producer.

Base price · 01-09-2015 02:01PM

rangler1 wrote: »

Does the department of ag not monitor the grading, Isaw them at it down in slaney

There are always Dept personnel in factories overseeing the process. That is not the level of supervision that I am referring to.
I am talking about the implementation of EU and Irish legislation that governs, supervises and regulates Weights and Measures. After all that is how us farmers get paid - weights and grades.
As far as I am aware, NSAI are the only Statutory body approved for this function.

_Brian · 01-09-2015 02:07PM

rangler1 wrote: »

This has been done to death, same sort of posts for as long as I'm here, yet the organisation has gone from strength to strength, membership always going up, heck €2m was put into the emergency fund last year. farmers know that they need representation and are prepared to pay.
The representatives are just farmers doing something they have an interest in and its a bit immature to highlight 1 or 2 out of maybe 50 -60 members of the national executive that go on to politics.
I'm very happy that they defended the SFP and rightly so and there's un grateful young people on here that would be getting a much smaller cheque in October but for the stand we took and some are the most vocal here against IFA. and I'd guarantee that the majority of young farmers have stepped into their parents SFP

This question isn't out of malice, but is the revenue from membership genuinely up or is it the subs been taken in that are supporting the IFA. Is this publicly released information.

Base price · 01-09-2015 02:07PM

Lucy Anne wrote: »

The milk PR stunt in England was fantastic. That's the kind of thing the IFA should be trying to do. It didn't cost a fortune and as people have said it went viral and really brought the message home to the consumer. Personally I wouldn't have a problem paying 40 cent more for 2 litres of milk if that money went to the farmer. I think people in cities are sympathetic and hate to see the producer doing so badly in all farming sectors. This is the point the IFA should be trying to educate the wider public on - of how little of the price paid in a supermarket goes to the producer.

I remember a few years ago local dairy farmers handed out free milk at supermarkets in Swords. They were all Premier Dairy suppliers (now part of Glanbia). A nifty advertising tool was to place the pictures and location of some of the diary farmers on the litre cartons.
To this day I still buy Premier Dairy milk as I know the farmer on the carton is from my area and I am supporting him and the local economy.

Lucy Anne · 01-09-2015 02:36PM

What those farmers did Base Price is to use a top advertising tool. It's one that the supermarkets, MacDonalds etc love using and that's why they have the Lidyl add with the different farmers on talking about their farms - to fool us into believing that the meat is coming from the local farmer you know as it did decades ago, and not from the faceless Larry Goodman operation instead. And people do respond to that, especially in these times of meat scares, people badly want reassurance that they can trust the producer not to poison their families;) No fear of that with all the trace-ability, I know.

It's just a pity that there aren't more farm businesses where the farmers can sell to consumers more directly. Like the brand stocked by Supervalu, Farmers to Market, a group of 12 farmers supplying free range chicken. They are displayed on the wrapping and at least you know that the money is going to them, and it does make it feel more personal and for some reason more trustworthy. Personally, I think these type of niche businesses will be the future success stories of farming here. As farms are small -compared to industrial ones in other countries - the best hope is to produce a premium, niche product and be paid a premium for it. Easier said than done, I know...

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 02:48PM

_Brian wrote: »

This question isn't out of malice, but is the revenue from membership genuinely up or is it the subs been taken in that are supporting the IFA. Is this publicly released information.

88000 members when I started in 2013, they're claimng near 90000 now and that's not including the 15000 family members or IFA countryside, you have to admit that it's an organisation to be reckoned with.
As county chairman, I got the numbers in every branch in the county so I'm sure those are available in all counties if you wanted to sit down with a calculator and check the figures.
What goes on on boards certainly isn't going to damage the momentum, as the politicians say, going forward

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 02:52PM

Base price wrote: »

There are always Dept personnel in factories overseeing the process. That is not the level of supervision that I am referring to.
I am talking about the implementation of EU and Irish legislation that governs, supervises and regulates Weights and Measures. After all that is how us farmers get paid - weights and grades.
As far as I am aware, NSAI are the only Statutory body approved for this function.

Yes but you don't need a statutory body, all you need is someone that can grade to stand in unannounced for ten minutes every so often and make sure the grades are close enough.
We brought a professional grader from eblex last year to slaney and that's all that was involved

Base price · 01-09-2015 03:04PM

Lucy Anne wrote: »

What those farmers did Base Price is to use a top advertising tool. It's one that the supermarkets, MacDonalds etc love using and that's why they have the Lidyl add with the different farmers on talking about their farms - to fool us into believing that the meat is coming from the local farmer you know as it did decades ago, and not from the faceless Larry Goodman operation instead. And people do respond to that, especially in these times of meat scares, people badly want reassurance that they can trust the producer not to poison their families;) No fear of that with all the trace-ability, I know.

It's just a pity that there aren't more farm businesses where the farmers can sell to consumers more directly. Like the brand stocked by Supervalu, Farmers to Market, a group of 12 farmers supplying free range chicken. They are displayed on the wrapping and at least you know that the money is going to them, and it does make it feel more personal and for some reason more trustworthy. Personally, I think these type of niche businesses will be the future success stories of farming here. As farms are small -compared to industrial ones in other countries - the best hope is to produce a premium, niche product and be paid a premium for it. Easier said than done, I know...

Considering the size of Ireland could the same analogy not be applied to all farms. IMO the link that needs to be reforged is the separation of urban support for local produce, ie Irish produce. The French, Italian and Spanish urban population appear to support their local produce and farmers.
Most urban residents are only a generation (if at all) away from the land yet seem to have abandoned any loyalty to it or the country cousins.
I understand that price and the UK multinationals are factors but is the price differential that much?

Milked out · 01-09-2015 03:20PM

It's all well and good having these niche products but we export so much of our produce that only a small proportion of farmers would be required to fill those niche or even local markets. Many products like that tend to have a short shelf life also so exporting a lot of these would be difficult and costly and impossible in some cases. We do not have the population for the domestic market to make much of a difference to our product prices

Base price · 01-09-2015 03:28PM

rangler1 wrote: »

Yes but you don't need a statutory body, all you need is someone that can grade to stand in unannounced for ten minutes every so often and make sure the grades are close enough.
We brought a professional grader from eblex last year to slaney and that's all that was involved

"Yes but you don't need a statutory body"
That is where I think you are incorrect but I will stand corrected if you can prove me wrong.
My simple laywoman's understanding of the relative EU legislation (Weights and Measures) is that where mechanical/electronic means are used to determine weight, mass, volume etc, it is up to each Member State to ensure that such mechanical/electronic devices/insturments conform to the legislation which includes ongoing "independent verification methods/processes" or words to that effect.

Farmer Pudsey · 01-09-2015 03:34PM

Lucy Anne wrote: »

What those farmers did Base Price is to use a top advertising tool. It's one that the supermarkets, MacDonalds etc love using and that's why they have the Lidyl add with the different farmers on talking about their farms - to fool us into believing that the meat is coming from the local farmer you know as it did decades ago, and not from the faceless Larry Goodman operation instead. And people do respond to that, especially in these times of meat scares, people badly want reassurance that they can trust the producer not to poison their families;) No fear of that with all the trace-ability, I know.

It's just a pity that there aren't more farm businesses where the farmers can sell to consumers more directly. Like the brand stocked by Supervalu, Farmers to Market, a group of 12 farmers supplying free range chicken. They are displayed on the wrapping and at least you know that the money is going to them, and it does make it feel more personal and for some reason more trustworthy. Personally, I think these type of niche businesses will be the future success stories of farming here. As farms are small -compared to industrial ones in other countries - the best hope is to produce a premium, niche product and be paid a premium for it. Easier said than done, I know...

Base price wrote: »

Considering the size of Ireland could the same analogy not be applied to all farms. IMO the link that needs to be reforged is the separation of urban support for local produce, ie Irish produce. The French, Italian and Spanish urban population appear to support their local produce and farmers.
Most urban residents are only a generation (if at all) away from the land yet seem to have abandoned any loyalty to it or the country cousins.
I understand that price and the UK multinationals are factors but is the price differential that much?

Every body forgets that we only consume about 10% of what we produce. 90% is erxported. If you look you will see that a lot of smaller veg farmers sell at markets as well you see Wexford potatoes and strawberry's as far away as Donegal. Because ofthe amount we export local pricing will have little impact on overall price.

In Ireland as well we have some of the most regressive laws to prevent local sale of milk and meat. Even the humble egg can only be sold without licience by the farmer that produce's it.

Irish supermarket's have little impact on Irish production prices and Irish consumers the same. This is why protesting at supermarkets or on the streets are only PR excerises. It is enforcement of competition in the processing sector, that beef farmers need even thought the powers that be tell us this in not an issue.

Milk and milk products are sensitive product to market influences. It is unlikly that low prices will persist too long as factory farms in the US and Europe will start to slaughter cows which will reduce production. Coveneny ( the lord of cows and guns) was right when he said this morning that the present price reduction was inplace before abolition of milk quota's. This will work throught the system and in a way artifical price support is more in the interest of factory farms rather than Irish farms. The lower it goes the more these are squeezed out of the markets and the higher the subsquent recovery.

kowtow · 01-09-2015 03:48PM

Milked out wrote: »

It's all well and good having these niche products but we export so much of our produce that only a small proportion of farmers would be required to fill those niche or even local markets. Many products like that tend to have a short shelf life also so exporting a lot of these would be difficult and costly and impossible in some cases. We do not have the population for the domestic market to make much of a difference to our product prices

There was a time when I would have agreed wholeheartedly with that statement, but nowadays I am not so sure. I also think the future is quite exciting if we stop thinking of ourselves as "price takers" and remember that we are actually "product makers"

We have the potential to produce some of the best produce in Europe from a family farm model which is traditional and pretty unique. I don't think the consumers for "niche" products have to be - literally - down the road from the producer. What we need to do is sell produce to consumers - whether they are in Dublin, Brussels, or London - who care about the family farm engage with the story, and the absolute quality and traceability of the product - and I don't mean bord bia style soviet factory one size fits all traceability, I mean the sort of real "know the man who made this" intimacy which is perfectly common on social media nowadays.

As long as we retain this lazy view of ourselves as lowest common denominator exporters - true price takers - any processor or factory worth its salt will make damned sure that the price we take is as low as it can be.

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 03:49PM

Base price wrote: »

"Yes but you don't need a statutory body"
That is where I think you are incorrect but I will stand corrected if you can prove me wrong.
My simple laywoman's understanding of the relative EU legislation (Weights and Measures) is that where mechanical/electronic means are used to determine weight, mass, volume etc, it is up to each Member State to ensure that such mechanical/electronic devices/insturments conform to the legislation which includes ongoing "independent verification methods/processes" or words to that effect.

You mean like the financial regulator...you think the public service would be competent to do this because it's a statutory body.
Oh definitely...as safe as the banks. If we had a guy like the one we brought to Slaney, we'd be in safe hands

On second thoughts scrap that,.... some farmers who knows nothing about grading would swear blind that he was on the factory payroll

Base price · 01-09-2015 03:49PM

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Every body forgets that we only consume about 10% of what we produce. 90% is erxported. If you look you will see that a lot of smaller veg farmers sell at markets as well you see Wexford potatoes and strawberry's as far away as Donegal. Because ofthe amount we export local pricing will have little impact on overall price.

In Ireland as well we have some of the most regressive laws to prevent local sale of milk and meat. Even the humble egg can only be sold without licience by the farmer that produce's it.

Irish supermarket's have little impact on Irish production prices and Irish consumers the same. This is why protesting at supermarkets or on the streets are only PR excerises. It is enforcement of competition in the processing sector, that beef farmers need even thought the powers that be tell us this in not an issue.

Milk and milk products are sensitive product to market influences. It is unlikly that low prices will persist too long as factory farms in the US and Europe will start to slaughter cows which will reduce production. Coveneny ( the lord of cows and guns) was right when he said this morning that the present price reduction was inplace before abolition of milk quota's. This will work throught the system and in a way artifical price support is more in the interest of factory farms rather than Irish farms. The lower it goes the more these are squeezed out of the markets and the higher the subsquent recovery.

Don't start me off about competition and the Competition Authority.
Every dog, cat, and rat on the street knows that there is feck all competition within the Irish beef sector. I have said it before previously and I will say it again, the tail is wagging the dog and has done so for the past 30 odd years.

Base price · 01-09-2015 04:32PM

rangler1 wrote: »

You mean like the financial regulator...you think the public service would be competent to do this because it's a statutory body.
Oh definitely...as safe as the banks. If we had a guy like the one we brought to Slaney, we'd be in safe hands

On second thoughts scrap that,.... some farmers who knows nothing about grading would swear blind that he was on the factory payroll

You either missed or chose to misread my very valid and and pertinent argument. Weights and Measures legislation (among many) is governed by EU legislation.
Yes, I would rather rely on a public service body (as opposed to self regulation) that is bound by EU legislation and if our local body is not fit for purpose then we always defer to a higher authority

.
A good treatment for "hot potato" burns/scalds is to run cold water over the infected area for several minutes while seeking medical advice.

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 05:23PM

Base price wrote: »

You either missed or chose to misread my very valid and and pertinent argument. Weights and Measures legislation (among many) is governed by EU legislation.
Yes, I would rather rely on a public service body (as opposed to self regulation) that is bound by EU legislation and if our local body is not fit for purpose then we always defer to a higher authority .
A good treatment for "hot potato" burns/scalds is to run cold water over the infected area for several minutes while seeking medical advice.

Sorry no faith in any public body here, people i know lost too much due to their neglect

Lucy Anne · 01-09-2015 05:24PM

"We have the potential to produce some of the best produce in Europe from a family farm model which is traditional and pretty unique. I don't think the consumers for "niche" products have to be - literally - down the road from the producer. What we need to do is sell produce to consumers - whether they are in Dublin, Brussels, or London - who care about the family farm engage with the story, and the absolute quality and traceability of the product - and I don't mean bord bia style soviet factory one size fits all traceability, I mean the sort of real "know the man who made this" intimacy which is perfectly common on social media nowadays.

As long as we retain this lazy view of ourselves as lowest common denominator exporters - true price takers - any processor or factory worth its salt will make damned sure that the price we take is as low as it can be.[/QUOTE]"

Agree absolutely. This is what needs to happen. Our beef is already a premium product but is not being marketed and sold around the world as such. Drop into any US forum on chefs and you can find conversations about the incredible difference in taste between grass fed and feed lot fed cattle. We are a small little country, we need to market almost all of our ag produce as ''boutique' and premium products. Our beef generally wins top prize at the French gastronomique contest - the most prestigious in the world but we're not capitalising on this.

Beef and lamb needs to now get the Kerrygold treatment. Just as Tony O'Reilly did for butter, the same could happen for meat. It could be turned into the world's most premium meat product, the staple on every plate in top US restaurants, and bought by the equivalent US consumer that shops in Marks and Spencers here. In other words the rich.

We also have the fantastic marketing back story for this; not only is it coming from small, traditional family farms and is untampered with, but it is coming from a society based from earliest times around cattle. For over a thousand years we were a nomadic people that followed herds of cattle and everything in Celtic society was based around that.

There is an Irish butcher who became the toast of London (from tip) and Bord Bia should read his website for a few ideas. It's all about Queen Maeve going to war over cattle, the brown and the white bull, the story of the Táin. And how for 20 generations his family were tending cattle ie: giving him a greater expertise then any man alive and certainly in the UK. It worked - Harrods invited him to set up shop, he had top celebs on his weekly list for deliveries! I really think it's a marketing dream, with all of the ingredients for success already there; we only need politicians and stake holders, with vision and commitment to make it happen.

MF290 · 01-09-2015 06:58PM

kowtow wrote: »

How many across Europe are watching clips of yesterdays events in Dublin?

Saw it on the Farmer's Weekly website, so the English lads are tuned in! Sure isn't there a large protest planned for Brussels on the 7th of September?

Protests reflect badly on ambitious politicians like Coveney. To be honest I'd say a lot more work goes on in the backround which isn't seen in the media. There's a lot more to the organisation than the few politicians who are always on the front page of the journal.

Agriculture is in a poor place at the minute, even with constant lobbying, where would it be without it?

rangler1 · 01-09-2015 08:47PM

MF290 wrote: »

Saw it on the Farmer's Weekly website, so the English lads are tuned in! Sure isn't there a large protest planned for Brussels on the 7th of September?

Protests reflect badly on ambitious politicians like Coveney. To be honest I'd say a lot more work goes on in the backround which isn't seen in the media. There's a lot more to the organisation than the few politicians who are always on the front page of the journal.

Agriculture is in a poor place at the minute, even with constant lobbying, where would it be without it?

50 or 60 going from IFA

IFA Protest Dublin 31st Aug 2015

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