Farm groups appeal to Glanbia on grain prices
It has been a summer of discontent for many farmers, headed by the vigorous and lengthy campaign on beef prices but now again in plain sight with protests about the returns on grain being conducted at the feed mills at Portlaoise and Clonroche in County Wexford.
The Chairman of the IFA’s National Grain Committee, Mark Browne, said that he and other representatives of the Association had met with Glanbia but had no joy from the proceedings.
“We met Glanbia last week and we were very disappointed with the poor response. We had a further meeting on Saturday, and while it was a constructive meeting, no offer was put on the table,” he said. So, the protests will continue.
Budget agri measures not enough in face of fallout from Brexit
The principal farming organisations have given Pascal Donoghoe’s budget a thumbs down in approval terms on the overall package that was declared in the Dáil on Tuesday.
There is a keen awareness that Brexit - in whatever form it takes - is capable of delivering a series of significant blows to farm incomes for an appreciable period of time and the agricultural sector is critical of the lack of proposals to mitigate these.
The President of the IFA, Joe Healy, summed the budget up by saying that “the €110 million committed to the Department of Agriculture for next year is a step forward but much more will be needed now as farmers are already suffering huge losses due to Brexit uncertainty.”