ICSA president Dermot Kelleher has said it is now time for the government to decide if they value the suckler herd as much as the dairy herd. “ICSA does not accept that the suckler herd is a major cause of global warming and we want to see any decisions around climate action reflecting that fact and demonstrating that suckler farmers need fairness in all decisions around climate and funding.”

ICSA president Dermot Kelleher has said the findings of a recent survey indicating that 63% of suckler farmers say they would be open to a cow reduction scheme lays bare the lack of any real support for the suckler sector and renewed frustration at beef price cuts.

“It is no surprise that farmers are tired of the low incomes in suckler farming. The ICSA view is that we would engage with the government if there was a willingness to bring a financial proposal to the table that would pay each suckler cow reduced on the same level as a dairy cow. We will not tolerate this being a debate about how much a suckler cow is worth in income, the only metric is how much emissions are reduced by each cow surrendered. On the basis, we believe that a suckler reduction scheme should be similar in value to a dairy reduction scheme.”

“There is no way ICSA will engage unless there is money on the table and that this money must treat suckler cows as important as dairy cows. When a reduction scheme for the suckler sector was raised at the Food Vision Beef group discussions were severely hampered by the refusal of the department to talk about any potential financial packages that could be offered to those willing to reduce numbers. In the absence of any indicators around how suckler farmers could benefit financially from of such a scheme ICSA could not give its blind support.”

ICSA Suckler chair Jimmy Cosgrave reiterated that the focus of ICSA will be on farmers who are continuing to try to make income from suckler farming. “We do not support a scheme to close down suckler herds and sterilise land. A reduction scheme is not something we are enthusiastic about either, but we also must be realistic about and accept that current factory price cuts means that farmers will have to cut costs one way or the other. A bad beef price will inevitably put pressure on weanling price as well,” he said.

“The priority for ICSA has always been on support for the suckler herd through a premium suckler brand and a realistic strategy to deliver €300/cow in support. The suckler brand is being hampered by the lack of urgency of meat processors in getting behind it. Regarding support, it is clear that the only way to deliver €300/cow was the ICSA CAP reform proposal to use a small sliver of the Pillar 1 payment to deliver a coupled premium for sucklers. Sadly, no other farm organisation backed this proposal wholeheartedly.  This will have to be re-examined again in a mid-term review of the CAP Strategic Plan.”  

“We need a clear signal from government that it is committed to the suckler sector. It is vital for the well-being of rural communities especially in the west and it is the only feasible enterprise on many smaller or fragmented holdings. As a less intensive system of farming ICSA does not accept that cutting the suckler herd is any solution to the climate challenge, but we need to have clarity from government on this very point.”

“It really is time for government to decide if they are with us or against us.”

ENDS