Election 2024: Somebody needs to have farmers' backs
These elections come against the backdrop of a pivotal time for Irish agriculture.
Many big and difficult conversations are underway — nutrient management rules, water quality, emissions targets, and veterinary medicines legislation, all under the spotlight… only for it all to be potentially undermined by the Mercosur agreement, an EU-free trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
If you were in any doubt about the importance of the future of Ireland’s agri-food production in these elections, you only need to listen to the party leaders at manifesto launches and debates to see how it has become a contentious central battleground.
Much of the mainstream discussion has focused on Ireland’s nitrates derogation. Micheál Martin said it would be “catastrophic for farmers if derogation was ended”, but the truth is that it would be catastrophic for the Irish economy as well.
It must be remembered that Ireland’s dairy exports are the largest single category within food and drink exports, with over 1.7m tonnes of product shipped globally to over 130 markets each year, all built off the post-milk quota boom in dairy production.
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It’s worth over €17bn annually to Ireland’s economy and supports more than 54,000 jobs.
Lakeland Dairies — a co-op supplied by 3,200 farm families in 17 counties producing 2bn litres of milk annually — has posted badges to candidates asking them to publicly back the dairy industry. Among candidates, there have been whole-hearted commitments from some and accusations of false promises by others.
But while it’s true to say it is a matter that will be decided in Brussels, without a strong defence put forward by our leaders here in Ireland, the industry will not have a chance to retain the derogation.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns came out earlier this month saying she did not support the continuation of Ireland’s nitrates derogation, with a somewhat bizarre argument saying she believes it has made small farms unviable.
Instead, her party has promised a €1.5bn ‘just transition fund’ to support farmers in moving towards more sustainable farming practices.
But do farmers really want to have to “transition” when many feel like they have already spent their entire farming lives chasing changing goalpost after changing goalpost?
Food security and climate security have been the two big issues for Micheál Martin, who stressed the importance of bringing the farming community “with us” on the issue of climate.
Similarly, Simon Harris was clear the next five years would be “vitally important”.
“We can’t have a debate where it’s a choice between the economy or climate or farmers or the climate,” he told an RTÉ debate, adding that he wants to improve water quality while also protecting the Irish way of farming.
Science-backed solutions and investment in water are among two approaches he put forward.
Macra na Feirme, which represents Ireland’s young farmers, wants to see actions that specifically address the barriers to entry for the next generation to get into farming. They also want the mental health and wellbeing of farmers and farm families to be prioritised, with recognition of farmers as a key category in the next government’s health programmes and budgets for rural mental health programmes.
This is understandable when you consider the front page of the latest edition of , which highlights the fact that the suicide rates of farmers can be 20% higher than the national average in some European countries.
But despite all this, there is the prospect that another coalition government could unravel many of the big promises made so far this campaign.
After all, the Green Party have made clear they are happy to work with whichever of the main parties can get them into power.
But they have consistently stressed that it must be on the basis of a programme for government setting out green policies.
Wealth inequality is a core issue for two of the more left-wing parties — Right to Change and People Before Profit.
It’s unlikely either will make it into power, but there is always the risk of a protest vote against the cost-of-living crisis, which only seems to be going from bad to worse.
Having seen what’s happened across the water, with the new cap on agricultural inheritance tax relief introduced as one of the British Labour Party’s first major changes since they came into power, asset-rich, cash-poor farmers could easily get caught up in the crossfire if any of these policies caught on here.
On top of all this, it must be remembered that farmers and rural folk are not immune to the normal issues affecting every other family, especially the pressure of the cost of living.
Rural schools, roads, and businesses in some of the most isolated parts of the island are often the ones who need government support the most.
