The Last Word from outgoing Limerick IFA chairperson

MY TERM started in 2021 and Covid restrictions continued to apply, therefore most meetings were held online.

It was a challenge to hold monthly meetings online, but the surprising thing was if you had suggested the idea of online meetings in 2019, the majority would have said “impossible”. In 2025, online meetings via Microsoft teams have become normal and they have certainly reduced my time away from the farm and home.

The first half of my term was dominated by the evolving climate and emissions debate and the impact on farmers. The Climate Bill set out the groundwork for emission targets for agriculture.

Much time and effort was put into defending Irish livestock farming from any cull of the national herd. Farmers struggled to understand the science of methane emissions while observing the massive growth in fossil fuel emissions from transport and air travel.

Once the emission targets were set in 2022, the next issue that raised its head was nitrates emissions and the continued application of the Nitrates Derogation to Ireland.

Suddenly farmers had to become much more familiar with the interaction between spreading fertiliser and water quality. This is an ongoing campaign, and IFA continues to defend the derogation as this is crucial to the economic viability of the family farm.

On February 24, 2023, Russia invaded Ukraine and almost overnight the cost of the 3Fs (fuel, feed and fertiliser) increased dramatically. Fertiliser more than doubled. The long-term impact of that event continues to hit our industry with embedded higher costs of doing business.

The latest iteration of the CAP commenced in 2024 with increased convergence and capping of payments per farmer. There is no doubt that convergence has reduced the economic viability of many full-time livestock and tillage farmers.

As we speak today planning and discussions on the makeup and size of the CAP post 2028 have already commenced. IFA has already called out the necessity for an increased budget if the ambitions of supporting farmers’ incomes and environmental ambition are to be met. Farmers are totally frustrated that the CAP budget is eroded every year in real terms.

The great debate regarding nature and biodiversity sometimes takes place at events where farmers are not present. Nature and biodiversity cannot be maintained unless farmers are embedded in delivering better results.

Therefore, policies like ACRES need to work for farmers and not become bureaucratic exercises as they are now. Farmers across the country have a big fear that further land will be designated and restricted and no compensation will be offered to make up for the restrictions.

On the ground in Limerick major issues that impacted farmers were the Kerry Forward Milk Price Contracts, the Adare to Foynes Motorway project, and the reopening of the Limerick to Foynes railway.

Approximately €5.5 million was added to the compensation package negotiated for impacted farmers by the motorway by IFA. The rate per acre more than doubled to €6,500 per acre.

Individual farmers needed help with farm inspections and appeals, TB breakdowns and some very difficult farm credit cases.

Learnings

Three foreign trips to Brussels, Washington and London revealed that the policies that have the biggest impact on our livelihoods are decided firstly in Brussels followed by Washington and London. Our freedom to farm as we want is decided in Brussels where environmental ambition appears more important than food security.

This contrasts with a much more farmer friendly administration in Washington. No doubt this will become more obvious under the new US administration. London post-Brexit can cause problems for our beef exports with free trade deals.

The issue for IFA is competition between short term issues such as weather, fodder shortages, commodity prices, ACRES and longer-term policy changes around the CAP and the impact of European parliament decisions. If we get better results in the formation of long-term policy the short-term crises can be managed easier

Looking Forward

The biggest issues for Limerick and Irish farmers are farm succession and the age profile of our farmers, economic and political uncertainty in Europe and USA and the diminishing number of farmers.

The Irish government and the EU can help with the formation of policy that makes farming an attractive career option thus helping succession and ensuring that Irish farm family units are viable. Viable farm family units in rural areas are a win-win for the community.

Comparing the current situation in the UK where their government has destroyed farmer confidence with changes to inheritance reliefs with the ongoing reliefs for farm transfers in Ireland shows how important it is to have strong farmer representation.

READ MORE: PICTURES: Louise makes history as second female to lead Limerick IFA

I often hear farmers questioning the effectiveness of IFA, my simple reply is “How much tractor diesel do you buy each year?”.  The green diesel rebate that IFA lobbies for each year is worth approximately 70 cent per litre. This rebate is not guaranteed and must be lobbied for each year. That is an individual benefit for every farmer.

I would like to thank Limerick IFA members for their support and also I could not have done my job without support of IFA staff in Limerick and Dublin and most especially my fellow county officers for support and advice.

In summary, I was proud to represent Limerick farmers for four years. At the end of my term I believe that farming is a great industry at the heart of every local community and well worth standing up for.