Green Pages

Feed trade topics from the island of ireland

nigta oppoSeS private memberS’ Climate Change bill For northern ireland

The Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association (NIGTA) has joined other agri-food stakeholder groups in describing as ‘irresponsible’ the actions of politicians in Northern Ireland who are supporting the Green Party’s private members’ bill on climate change.

Those against the progress of the bill at Stormont point out that the proposed legislation flies in the face of expert scientific advice. Moreover, it has not been subject to any economic risk assessment.

According to Robin Irvine, CEO of the NIGTA, the implementation of the bill would be devastating to the local livestock sector. One of its consequences would be a reduction in meat and milk production by over 50%. “The proposed bill ignores the guidance of the UK Climate Change Committee, which has calculated that an 82% reduction in emissions in Northern Ireland will be sufficient for the UK to deliver its target of net-zero by 2050,” Irvine said. “Instead, many of our politicians are determined to commit Northern Ireland to a 100% reduction by 2045 without any reference to science or consideration of the social and economic impact.”

“Businesses across Northern Ireland are not opposed to robust programs to mitigate climate change, and are actively engaged on a daily basis on promoting sustainable practices throughout the food chain,” Irvine continued. The agri-food industry has been leading the way as one of the first sectors to engage with government in joint initiatives, which have had significant successes in mitigation of emissions to air and water.

“We are committed to play our part in the management of climate change and while we agree that the issue should be addressed by the Assembly, it is vital that the approach is informed by the best available science and with a full understanding of the social and economic impact of the proposed measures.”

The NIGTA representative went on to point out that an alternative bill, tabled by Northern Ireland’s Farm Minister Edwin Poots, and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), is based on the UK Climate Change Committee guidelines.

This approach, Irvine states, recognises the much greater importance of agriculture in Northern Ireland and that much of the food produced here is consumed in Great Britain.

“This will involve an evidence-based approach and has gone through a full consultation and impact assessment,” Irvine explained. “This programme is described as challenging and will drive contraction across the agri-food sector as the inefficient operators are forced out of business. However, it is believed that the industry can survive such a programme preserving the majority of the 100,000 jobs supported by the sector and maintaining substantial export sales to GB and beyond.

“By contrast, the private members’ bill, proposed by Clare Bailey of the Green Party, will be much more damaging, leading to massive job losses, rural depopulation and the loss of export earnings, which will devastate the Northern Ireland economy. The reality is that the measures will contribute nothing to the global environment or to the challenge of feeding a growing population.”

According to Robin Irvine, the inevitable outcome of this policy is that the UK requirement for meat and dairy will simply be imported from regions where emissions are higher, and animal health and welfare standards are much lower than is the case in Northern Ireland.

“While it is inevitable that the mitigation of climate change will impact significantly on the agri-food sector, it is irresponsible for politicians to proceed with legislation which ignores the valuable work of our expert scientists and researchers and which has not undergone a proper assessment as to the effect on employment and the economy,” Irvine concluded.

iF We don’t produCe the Food, Someone elSe Will!

The theory that food production in Ireland must be throttled back significantly as agriculture strives for ‘carbon neutrality’ was well and truly debunked this week, courtesy of the presentations given to the Alltech Ireland Environmental Forum.

Numerous speakers pointed to the fact that, when set against the inevitability of a rising global population, the need to produce more food must be factored into the climate change debate. Yes, food waste is an issue. But even if we succeed in tackling this challenge, the need to increase food output levels in order to feed a 9 billion world population remains very real.

Moreover, if Ireland takes its foot off the gas, farmers in other countries will take up the slack. Another perspective alluded to by several speakers was that of compartmentalising agriculture as a separate entity within national economies – where climate change is concerned – and at individual country level. Contrast this with energy production and consumption, where a more international approach is being taken.

There was total unanimity expressed regarding the potential that exists across the island of Ireland to produce food on a sustainable basis. This is especially the case where high-quality animal proteins are concerned.

Alltech president and CEO Dr. Mark Lyons confirmed that Ireland will play a critically important role in helping to feed the world moving forward. “Improving sustainability will be at the heart of everything associated with agriculture and food as both industries move forward,” Dr. Lyons stated. “ And it is in this context that farmers must be prepared to enter into a meaningful debate with consumers.”

Dr. Lyons pointed to the valuable role that agriculture is already playing, from a climate change perspective, pointing specifically to its ability to sequester large quantities of carbon.

“Agriculture has the greatest potential to shape the future of our planet, and by embracing innovation and improving farm management, our agriculture sector can lead the way in enhancing agri-food sustainability,” Dr. Lyons added. “Never before have we needed to come together as an industry to solve the environmental challenges we face. It is not up to one organisation to solve this issue. We need to collaborate with the industry by working together with farmers, industry bodies, processors and governments. Action is what will make it happen: we need to make a start.”

drop in Crop yieldS in 2020 hitS inComeS oF iriSh tillage FarmerS

Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Grain Chairman Mark Browne has said that the incomes of tillage farmers could be down 15% for 2020 because of a sharp drop in yields.

“There’s an emphasis at Government level on increasing the tillage area in this country and promoting the use of native grain and protein crops in livestock rations,” Browne said. However, in order to achieve these goals, Government actions and policy must support the sector – “Some of the current proposals for the next CAP, in relation to convergence and the administration of eco schemes, will impact negatively on the tillage sector. In addition, the coupled protein payment needs to be increased to encourage increased plantings of these crops.”

Mark Browne said the impact of a difficult winter in 2019, followed by drought conditions in late spring of 2020, had a devastating effect on last year’s crop. According to the Teagasc National Farm Survey, tillage farm incomes also fell by 15% in 2019 compared to 2018.

“The price of Quality Assured Irish grain must not be undermined by the price of third-country feedstuffs, which are not produced to the same environmental standards as Irish grain,” Browne added.

He said that feed manufacturers and the malting sector should maximise their intake of Irish grain, adding: “The area of Irish grain production is down 17% from 2012, and without targeted measures and a strategic plan, this decline will continue. The sector contributes over €650m of farm gate value to the rural economy. It is of critical strategic importance to Ireland’s €13bn livestock, dairy, food, drinks and mushroom export sectors.”

iriSh poliCymaKerS urged to Study propoSed FrenCh laW on Farm produCtion CoStS

The President of Ireland’s Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has urged Irish politicians and policymakers to pay attention to the debate underway in France, where a new law is proposed that will force buyers of food and agri-produce to take account of the costs of production in negotiations with the farmers.

Mr. Pat McCormack said that while he did not wish to overstate the case, there was undoubtedly a momentum building behind the objective of legally ensuring that farmers and primary producers received a fair price from the corporate retailers who completely dominate the EU’s food sector.

McCormack said that this movement was especially strong in France, where policymaking seemed notably less beholden to the wishes of these corporations, and there was a general acceptance that the survival of a state’s farming and food sector was more important than any corporation’s desire to increase their own margins and build market share.

“There does seem to be a slow-but-steady momentum building up behind the idea of margin reform by regulation, and without that reform, then the contradiction between a continuing cheap food strategy and the lower volumes involved in the transition to low-emissions farming will render those environmental moves futile,” McCormack explained.

“We have repeatedly pointed out that any meaningful action to lower emissions will have to involve the end of the ‘cheap food’ policy introduced and operated by the corporate retailers for the last 30-odd years. It is that policy that prioritises volumes over margin and leaves farmers having to produce more as the corporate retailers relentlessly drive down prices paid by the consumers while keeping their own retail margin.”

“Everyone behind them in the supply chain simply passes the reductions back to the farmers, who have borne the cost of this very deliberate strategy for decades now,” McCormack added.

Noting that the proposed French law, as explained by Gregory Besson-Moreau to the EU’s Parliaments’ Agriculture Committee, would be a system of ‘reviewed and updated cost indicators’, McCormack said that we simply had to make the connection between “the costs of producing something and the price people are asked to pay for it.”

According to the ICMSA president, there is a real cost of producing food, and that real cost – comprised of economic and environmental elements – is going to go up and will have to be paid for by everyone, including the retailer and consumer.

“We have had a situation for the last 30 years where the consumers paid an artificially low price with the balance of the real cost paid by the farmer/primary producer,” McCormack continued. “That system was brutally unfair, and hundreds of thousands of EU farmers have seen their livelihoods sacrificed on the altar of this cheap food policy. Make no mistake, it should have been changed anyway, but the urgency around the integration of farming with climate change measures has meant that time has run out for this wasteful and destructive system. We will have to reform the way we calculate the costs of getting food to the consumers, and that will mean that the costs incurred producing that food are incorporated in the price paid to the farmers by the retailers.”

Choose the proven leader for all of your feed additive needs

Alltech.com/ireland AlltechNaturally @Alltech Sarney | Summerhill Road | Dunboyne | Co. Meath

in my opinion … richard halleron ‘ranCho relaxo’ beCKonS For ireland’S Feed CompounderS

Methinks that all the planets have now aligned to deliver an ‘abundance of opportunities’ for Ireland’s animal feed milling businesses. Consider the facts.

The recent rollover of the BEEP-S programme will encourage suckler herd owners to feed more meal to calves over the coming months, while the Sheep Welfare Scheme contains similar provisions where the feeding of ewes is concerned.

Meanwhile, the focus now being placed on 24-month calf-to-beef systems will encourage more intense feeding of meal to dairy-bred calves, particularly in the months post-weaning.

Teagasc research has identified the absolute necessity of ensuring that concentrates are made available to weanlings during their first season at grass.

All of this is great news if you are in the feed compounding business. But the biggest prize of all – a switch to greater levels of winter milk output – has yet to be realised. Nevertheless, change is coming.

The Glanbia debacle, and the debate that followed, has pointed to the absolute necessity for significant numbers of Irish dairy farmers to entertain a greater commitment to autumn calving as they develop their businesses.

If and when all of these developments take place, the increased turnover achieved by the feed milling sector will amount to significant multiples of millions of Euros. And good luck to everyone involved.

If the payback at farm level comes in the form of significantly improved animal performance, then everyone involved is a winner.

It goes without saying that grazed grass is Ireland’s greatest asset. And this must remain the case.

But grass alone is not a totally balanced feed for ruminant livestock. As a case in point, I have interviewed several dairy farmers over the last number of months, all of whom have told me that they will keep up meal feeding levels well into the summer.

The driving force behind this approach is their fear of cows being impacted by early embryo loss. They know this is happening and are attributing the problem to the excessive consumption of lush grass containing high levels of nitrogen.

Equally, the confirmation from Teagasc that rumen development in weanling calves can be negatively impacted if they are put on a grassonly diet too soon is extremely revealing.

Everything in life is about balance. Again, consider the facts. Huge strides have been made in improving the genetic potential of Ireland’s dairy cow, beef cattle and breeding sheep populations.

But grass alone was never going to ensure that all this potential could be translated into improved performance on the ground. Given this backdrop, the strategic need for enhanced levels of meal and concentrate feeding becomes obvious.