Farming & Rural Ireland
Farming is a key sector of Irish society. It is the back bone of our rural communities
arming is in crisis in Ireland. We don't make that statement lightly. A new report by Teagasc confirms income levels across farms fell in 2023. Dairy incomes averaged €49,000 in 2023, a decrease of 69% compared to the 2022 level. Tillage farm income fell 71% last year, to just €21,400. Drystock farm income also fell in 2023. The average income for Cattle farms fell by 14% last year to €12,600. Sheep farm incomes fell 22% to just €12,500 last year. Across all farm types the average income has dropped by 57% in 2023 to just under €20,000. These are massive falls. They are stunning. All of his before we even mention the massive increase in input costs in farming in those last few years.
As a result of income falls every year farmers are leaving the sector. If were to happen in any other sector, it would be front page news and it would dominate the Dáil debates. It shows beyond a doubt that farming is no longer a sustainable livelihood for most families. According to Teagasc 1/3 of farmers are making a loss. Many are going into debt. Many of them are in poverty. 1/3 of farmers are only making a living because someone in the family is working off the farm to supplement the income of the farm. Only 1/3 of farmers currently are actually making a living from farming. That's an incredible situation.
One of the most important sectors in society, the sector that produces our food and the sector that's the backbone of our rural community is collapsing. Even if you had no interest in farming families or rural Ireland, this is a very serious issue. If here are no farmers, there is no food and as a result there is no future.
Food security has increased in importance in the last few years. The Russian invasion of Ukraine shut down so many supply chains leading to products not being available but also to significant inflation. Covid too shut down so many supply chains and created enormous product inflation. Even the Suez Canal blockage had an effect on supply and prices in some areas.
Food security necessitates a viable farming sector. The damage being done to farmers is affecting rural and regional Ireland. If the family farm dies so too does rural Ireland. Food lots, industrial farms may keep production up, but they won't send children to local schools, buy in local shops, play for the local football team and socialise in the local pub.
Aontú will reform the food market
You might think that there is no money in food. But this is not the case. Food production is a multibillion euro industry. It's a highly profitable industry. There are three elements in the food supply chain; farmers, food processors and supermarkets. Farmers do by far the most work but they receive the least mount of profit. Food processors on the other hand are very profitable. Profits are very well hidden in the beef processing sector. One such beef processor had an income of €4billion in 2022. Profits are estimated to be over €200m and tax is paid through a network of holding companies in Britain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Jersey. Its estimated that the actual tax rate paid may have been as low as 2%.
Supermarkets are also raking in profits. Again profits often well-hidden but its reported that Tesco are make €104 million in profit in 2023. SuperValu saw revenues increase to €4.7bn during 2022 and saw profits after tax reach nearly €100m. Aldi Ireland makes €2.03bn and has profits of €17.2m The truth is the food market in Ireland operates as an oligopoly. A small number of supermarkets and beef barons have massive buyer power, they have control over all aspects of the market. As a result they are making super normal profits.
Fair Price for Beef Farmers
Aontú brought legislation to the Dáil both in this term and the last term seeking to create a floor below the price of beef, to ensure that factories and supermarkets are forced by law to give at least a break-even price to farmers per beast. It is an extraordinary measure but not without precedent. The government have intervened in the market before in terms of putting a floor below the price of alcohol.
The situation facing beef farmers is extraordinary and as such serious measures must be considered. A third of farmers are currently operating at a loss.
Oppose Mercosur Trade Deal
Aontú is opposed to the Mercosur Trade Deal which will see the Irish Beef market in Europe replaced by the South American market. This deal will crush the Irish farmer and will do untold damage to the environment. In Brazil deforestation, over-grazing and wildfires all form part of the agricultural method, not to mention the carbon cost associated with transporting the beef to Europe.
Irish grass-raised beef is second to none, the quality is superb. If we were serious about tackling climate change and reducing emissions, we would support Irish beef farmers and oppose this deal from Europe.
Culling the Herd
Aontú is extremely alarmed at the content of a report from the Environmental Protection Agency last year which suggests that a national herd cull of 30% would be required to meet climate targets. The findings of this report show that the most vulnerable will be targeted in the government's emissions reductions. The report found that a reduction in livestock numbers, 30% reduction in the national herd, the quadrupling of forestry cover and the rewetting of 90% of reclaimed land would be necessary to meet the government's targets.
Aontú was the only political party to oppose the Climate Action Bill in the Dáil. We did as we knew this Bill would increase pressure on farmers. Sinn Féin are speaking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue - they supported the Climate Action Bill, they voted in favour of it - of the legislation which paved the way for these targets and reductions in herd numbers. The government's farming policy is forcing farmers to increase stock levels. This economic policy is pushing farmers into poverty and having an enormous impact on the environment. If farmers received more profit per beast, they would not have to stock so much.
Aontú will create a strong competition authority
In the long run to fix this situation we need a stronger competition authority. We don't have that yet. This competition authority will be responsible for reducing the buyer power of food processors and supermarkets. Over time it will have the objective of increasing the number of food processors there are within the market to ensure proper competition for farm produce. Many will be surprised that there is such a thing as below cost sale of food. But it happens regularly.
Factories and supermarkets are regularly pushing down prices, regularly squeezing farmers for every last cent. The power imbalance within the market regularly pushes farmers into poverty. This happened recently at a large scale during the beef protests. Aontú travelled the country at the time to meet with the protesting farmers. Beef farmers were threatened with an injunction along with other protesters at the time. Aontú was forced to go to the High Court to defend these farmers. Now some people say that if you increase the amount of money that is paid out to farmers, that this would push up the price of food at the check out. This is not true.
There is enough profit within the food sector to increase the price to farmers and keep checkout prices from rising. The exploitative nature of the food market is not limited to beef, poultry, pigs, and sheep also feel the effects of this. We need to tackle the exploitative nature of the whole food market. None of this is happening by accident. In 2020, the FG Chair of the Agricultural Committee Chair said that it was unreasonable for farmers to expect a price above the cost of production.
The current Minister for Agriculture agreed with the chair, saying that it was unreasonable that farmers would expect a price above the cost of production. Turn that around for a second, imagine if some one asked a TD to work a 70 hour a week, attend the Dail, develop legislation, and meet and represent constituents. Imagine if they asked TD’s to do it for a wage less than the actual cost of doing the work. This would not be acceptable.
Oppose the Ban on Turf
Aontú is deeply concerned in relation to the attempts by the Green Party, with the support of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to stop people from burning turf. The draft Air Pollution Amendment Bill 2024 is extremely alarming. This Bill is a back-door way for the Greens to stop us burning turf. The legislation would grant wide-ranging powers to the Minister to prohibit the "sale, production, distribution, transportation or storage of fuel of any type or description".
It grants full power to the Minister to decide the "standard, specification, composition of any type of fuel which is burned in fireplaces" or "fireplaces in a particular area" which will be prohibited - and the Minister would be able to do this without a Dáil vote. This proposed legislation sets out extraordinary powers which could see councils stop cars, and raid houses. The punishments set about in the document are very severe from a fine of €1,000 to a three-month stay in prison.
The government has betrayed rural Ireland, and we in Aontú are determined to hold them to account and resist the damaging proposals which they're trying to inflict on ordinary hard-working country people.
Fishing
Irish fishermen have seen their sector gutted in recent years. Irish fish and fishing rights have been handed over lock, stock and barrel to other countries. Indeed, many countries are doing far better out of Irish waters, than Irish fishermen themselves. According to Departmental projections, Ireland’s coastal share of fish will shrink by at least 15% in the next 6 years. The mean reduction in fishing quota per EU Member State is 9.83% - Ireland’s reduction significantly surpasses that loss.
In fact Ireland’s fishing industry is the joint highest loser with Germany. Now after being hammered by Dublin and Brussels, Irish fishermen are now being forced to weigh on the pier to fulfil regulations. No other fishing sector has been so poorly treated by its own government and by the EU. The crisis in fishing is so profound, that Irish fishing boats are changing their Irish flags for Spanish ones to increase their quota. Meanwhile 25-30 juggernauts of Irish fish are leaving this country weekly – unchecked.
To put this into perspective: in Monkfish, France has 59% of the quota in Irish waters. Ireland has 7%. In Haddock, Ireland has only 22% - France 67%. In Hake, Ireland has 6% - France 45%. And the most shocking of all, in Sole – Belgium has the majority of the quota. Meanwhile, Irish fishermen cannot catch one fish in the North Sea. This crisis is beyond belief, it has actually reached breaking point. Each year, the French and Spanish fleets fishing in Irish waters don’t catch their full quota – and Aontú; will fight in Brussels for the Irish fishing industry to be given that excess to keep the trade alive.
Failure is not an option – those communities that are being hammered by these practices are now exporting their young people who are leaving to find work. They may never come back.
Aontú will seek to claw back some of our sovereignty in the fishing industry, by way of legislation and legal action against the EU if necessary.
We will:
- Instigate a comprehensive review of fishing policy that has not addressed the unequal sharing opportunities for over 50 years.
- Spearhead an EU strategy to entice new young entrants into the industry.
- End the importation of fish products that undermine the Common Market Organisation regarding the protection of our processing sector.
- Work to end the over regulation of the industry that forces vessels to return to port for small breaches.
- Address the uneven distribution of EU funds between the member states, the European maritime fisheries aquaculture fund.
- Push for the introduction of a strategic plan to assist all sectors, prioritising the polyvalent section of our fleet starting with small scale fishermen.
Nature Restoration Law Bad for Ireland
The Nature Restoration Law presents a huge threat to farmers. This law creates targets to restore drained peatlands currently under agricultural use by 30% in 2030, 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050. It is estimated that there are currently 852,513 acres of such land in Ireland, though the true figure and manner of categorising drained peatlands is difficult to ascertain. If this figure is accurate then it means that potentially a half a million acres of land could be taken out of agriculture in Ireland over the next thirty years.
This EU law, which was supported by the Government parties, and welcomed by a Sinn Féin MEP, is pointed directly at Ireland. Few other countries have such a thing as ‘reclaimed bog’. What the government and EU commission fail to realise is the strain this will put on farmers. The farming sector has every reason to hold the government’s financial incentives in suspicion given how often they have been let down previously. We will insist that state owned land be used to ensure Ireland meets its EU obligations.
Cost of Farm Fertiliser
At the start of last year the average bag of fertiliser cost 223% of what it did in 2010. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the associated sanctions taken by Ireland and Europe resulted in an unprecedented rise in the cost of fertiliser. Few politicians seemed interested in this at the time, but Aontú has been raising the matter persistently with the Minister for Agriculture in the Dáil. The scale of the inflation in terms of the cost of fertiliser was absolutely colossal. Farmers around the country were left with two options - either fork out the money that they didn't have, or else refrain from using fertiliser altogether. The rise in cost, we believe, actually suited this government's agenda
For those farmers who did pay , they're now stuck in losses and debt. For those who did without, they're not making profit either because their grass yield, the number of bales of hay and silage they produced from their fields was down on previous years as a result.
While we welcome the recent reduction in the cost of inflation, we feel the damage has been done - farmers across the country are neck deep in debt, farms are not turning over profits in many instances, and farming is becoming less viable as a sole means of income. Young farmers are emigrating, and fewer and fewer are obtaining the green cert.
This is heartbreaking for farmers, especially those whose families have farmed that land since the famine. We need emergency supports now. For the next few years the government should subsidise the cost of fertiliser - we should have fertiliser credits for farmers in the same way that we had electricity credits during the inflation crisis in terms of energy.
Agricultural relief
Aontú believes that the changes to Agricultural relief in budget 2025 are detrimental to the family farm model. The 6 year usage rule will hinder genuine farm transfers to the next generation as genuine family farms may be excluded. It does little to address land banking by wealthy non farm investors. Aontú will fight to reverse these measures.
Aontú believes the Beef Welfare Scheme needs more imaginative environmentally sustainable measures such as a payment to encourage less use of antibiotics and anthlemintics.
Supports for Farmers
Under the BWS and the SCEP Aontú seeks to increase support to farmers to €300 per suckler cow and €37 per ewe. Aontú seek a Tillage Survival Scheme payment of €250/ha and a Tillage Expansion Scheme of €400/ha to be paid on land converted into tillage in year 1. There must also be a maintenance payment of €250/ha in year 2. Aontú seek €100 per dairy and suckling yearling and €100/dairy beef calf. CAP funding must be increased and used to support farmers, food production and food security. EU environment actions must be financed through a separate fund. This separate fund should be focused on actions from future implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law.
Farmers as stewards of the land
Nearly half of Ireland's surface waters are in an unsatisfactory condition due to the damage being caused by activities that release pollutants into our environment and physical alterations that damage habitats and ecosystems. The trends indicate that, overall, water quality is declining and getting worse. This Government have sought to blame farmers for this damage. Farmers have a role to play.
We will demand that other stakeholders are held to account.
Young farmers
We know that there are fewer and fewer young people in farming. Aontú recognise that younger farmers are increasingly concerned about agricultural supports for young farmers; general practice healthcare and wellbeing; housing and transport. The financial support for these farmers is simply not making a difference.
The Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CISYF) is now being paid to around 6,000 farmers, and the level of funding works out at just over €5,000. The scarcity of healthcare in rural communities, especially the provision of primary care, coupled with crumbling infrastructure and a lack of housing is something that Aontú TDs will prioritise and deliver on. We have stood by rural communities up and down the country and our people are ready to transform that activism into action.
Farmers mental health
Aontú recognise that farming isn’t just a profession, it is a way of life and one that comes with unique challenges and strains. A report by UCD has revealed that more farmers have had suicidal thoughts than the populace at large. A changing landscape arising from Government initiatives on climate change, isolation and the stress of worrying about the future of the farm have all contributed to this situation.
Whilst Aontú are committed to creating a fully funded and resourced Mental Health Service, it is clear that farmers need additional support and so we will ensure that talking therapies for farmers are introduced - by farmers and for farmers. We will ensure that any therapeutic initiatives for farmers are accessible in their locality, and we will be investigating how local communities can produce counsellors and these roles are sustainable, either through subsidised courses or by providing hub and spoke services in counties. Aontú has a full range of mental health proposals which can be read on our website.
Residential Zoned Land Tax
RZLT disproportionally affect farmers as if they are land speculators. Ministers have made repeated promises that active farmland would be excluded from the tax, yet have made no changes to the proposals which come into effect in months. Aontú are committed to excluding active farmland from the RZLT because we know it will close small family farms and force many others to sell their land. According to the Irish Farmers Association, an average-sized suckler farm with seven acres of zoned land valued at €50,000/acre would pay €10,500 annual RZLT liability. The entire yearly income for a farm of this size in 2022 was €8,324.
Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund
Over the next six years, the fund will allocate €2 billion annually, and Aontú want to ensure that it actually benefits farmers and rural communities, specifically with on-farm sustainability investments. Aontú TDs will lobby to ensure that the fund is focussed on agriculture and aquaculture and ensuring the sustainability of the rural way of life for the future. Scheme Reform The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is not working for farmers. It must be reformed.
Aontú is calling for the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) to be replaced by a Whole Farm Environmental Scheme with a base payment of €15,000.
Energy as a Crop
Aontú will grant fund farmers to allow for increased microgeneration of electricity on farms. Aontú want to see more anaerobic digestors, small scale solar and small wind projects on farmland and sheds to allow farms become more energy sufficient and environmentally friendly. This will also ensure an increased income stream for farms. Such developments should be unintrusive to local communities were possible or achieve the consent of local communities. Sheds and marginal land should be used for solar electricity generation.
A Complete Review of the TB Crisis
Aontú is calling for a complete review of the TB crisis. The number of bovine TB outbreaks has increased significantly in past 12 months. This is doing significant damage to the farming sector. The crisis is ongoing, with massive costs and no end in sight. Aontú in government will undertake a complete review of the issue so that a solution can be found to bring an end to the mess.
Regional Development
Ireland is developing into a city state. Continuous lobsided spatial development had led to hundreds of thousands of people being condemned to a commuter hell. Dublin is overheating. People are commuting from Ulster, Connacht and Munster into Dublin on a daily basis and much of regional Ireland is emptying of its young people.
The establishment parties are increasingly Dublin based.
Aontú will: • Aontú seek to create a new international city in the western seaboard of Ireland to help rebalance Irelands lobsided spatial development. Infrastructure will be front loaded into this city growing it to a critical mass to the point where it can draw down international investment in its own right. This will operate as a counterweight to Dublin.
• Aontú also seek to develop a Border Innovation Zone. This would be supported by infrastructural investment and derogation on European grant funding rules for a 10-year period to kick-start investment.
• Aontú will harness the SEUPB for border counties and the EU Regional Development Fund to address the infrastructural deficit across the midlands.
• Prioritise the opening of Waterford airport to an international carrier.
• Reopen the Western Rail Corridor and the Navan to Dublin Line of provincial rail lines.
• Expand public transport in rural towns and villages. • Increase investment into the resurfacing of roads that have been neglecte
