Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are all very welcome. I thank them for their presentation. In the context of young people and attracting more of them into the agriculture sector, conversations like this help a lot.

A number of issues stand out. First, there is what we already do in the mainstream. Most farming here is dairy, bovine or sheep production. That is the mainstay of Irish agriculture; it is what farmers here are used to, good at and set up for. They are set up in terms of the machinery they need and it works for them. Diversification away from that would be difficult for most, particularly as farmers in general are risk averse. They do not want to do something they do not know in case it does not work and that is understandable. They are prepared to take a few bad years, a few good years, put the two together and accept that they are doing okay overall. However, as others have said, the continued intensification in recent years is leading to a situation whereby farmers are expected to get more from less. The acre of ground is expected to produce more. This means that more inputs are going into the land in order to get more out of it. In terms of the animals themselves, more inputs are also going into them to get them fatter faster and to move them along quicker in order to make more money. That is putting a strain on the system. Slurry, for example, is a huge problem in this context. In the west of Ireland, marginal land tends to be wet anyway. Grants were given to farmers to store slurry but now the land is not good enough to allow that slurry to be spread and the tanks are full. We run into this problem every spring and it will only get worse if we are going to have longer winters in future, which seems to be the pattern. More work needs to be done on this issue.

The cheap food policy was referred to previously. One solution might be to build a wall around Europe and make everyone pay a little more for their food. We could try to force it or control it but it is a market system which cannot be forced or controlled. Indeed, there are many reasons not to do that. However, if one looks at the plight of the primary producer, one finds many reasons to do it. This is a difficult issue but I know it is not an area of research for the witnesses here today.

While we have traditional farming in sectors known well to Irish farmers, other areas are emerging which are new and different. These are niche areas that could possibly be explored, developed and made more mainstream. These are the areas in which I am interested, as are those farming in the west of Ireland and on land that is not good enough for dairy production or more intensive farming. I am very interested in finding solutions for that part of the world. One area of particular interest is that relating to biorefinery. One sees so much on Facebook and on the Internet in general regarding the problem of plastics in our oceans and the overproduction of plastic packaging. Plastic is a derivative of oil and packaging is a huge problem. We can try to get people to use less packaging but we will not wipe it out all together. An alternative will have to be found for all of this plastic packaging. If there is to be an alternative, does that represent an opportunity for farmers? Alternatives will not necessarily only come from by-products of the dairy industry.

We often hear about hemp and some of its derivatives being used to produce plastic or packaging products. Are there opportunities in that area? Has research been done in that regard?

Someone was before the committee previously and spoke about the horticultural sector. I was looking at the bottom of the fridge the other day. There were four small beetroots in a small package. They come cooked and ready to eat. They came all the way from Portugal. I cannot understand why we cannot produce them in Ireland. Maybe we cannot and there is some reason for it. Some years ago the volcano went up in Iceland and we had a plume of smoke. People said that if we could not import vegetables into Ireland then we would run out of them after one week. It seems that our supply is in a precarious state. Are there opportunities in the horticultural sector that we could consider? Could we look at technology to move forward with?

Aside from food or food products, are there other things that farmers can produce, sell and make a profit on? There may be technology that can improve things in this area. Genetic modification is something with which food consumers have a problem. That has been clearly stated so we need to be careful in respect of it. However, that does not mean we should not be looking at technology.

Interesting points were made from both sides of the table. Generally, our problem is that we are producing cheap food for the masses. Professor Evans referred to the opportunity to produce a higher quality product for the top shelf and get a better price for it. That brings me back to the point about how we market Irish food. I have Kerrygold butter in mind. The brand has sold exceptionally well throughout the world. Can we do more of that with other Irish products? We need to ensure that it is not only about the food we produce but also about the inputs we use. We need to be able to stand over the process. If we cannot stand over what we produce, we will run into problems later on.

I am interested in the whole idea of developing what are currently niche markets into something mainstream. What research is going on in this area? Where can that bring us? Can it bring us there quickly? In truth, while I absolutely agree there is great opportunity – the deputation discussed this earlier – that opportunity will only come with change. We need to realise that change quickly because Irish farming is in a crisis. While dairy is going well, large sectors of Irish farming are in crisis. If the family farm is not making money, we will see more of the industrial farm. There may be industrial farms owned by families but they still use the industrial farm model. Consumers worldwide and especially consumers near to us do not want that and they have said as much. Food miles are important in Europe. We need to respond by working with what they want.

I am delighted that the witnesses are before the committee and I am glad the work they are doing is going in the direction that I believe we should be going. More work should be done to meet the requirements of the consumer. The main requirement is to ensure that the primary producer gets a proper return. This has been said by everyone at the meeting. That is the big thing missing in all of this. To a large extent, that is not the responsibility of UCD but we have our part to play in it.