Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What I am going to say may not be received too well but I will say it in any event. In the context of the fodder scheme, I make no apologies for putting forward proposals regarding the fodder crisis. In mid-July, we were facing a famine in the winter. Thankfully, the weather intervened and we got an extremely good back end of the year. However, schemes proposed by us, such as the extension of fertiliser and slurry spreading and the catch crops with the tillage farmers, have played a significant part in redressing the imbalance that was there.

If we get a late spring, whatever surplus of imported fodder we have in store will not take long to disappear. In the southern half of the country, where fodder was non-existent in mid-August, the situation has improved very dramatically. Cattle were out grazing up to three or four days ago. If it is favourable in the springtime, we will have fodder left over, which is a far better situation in which to be. We raised the matter in the Dáil and, thankfully, the Minister and the Department took initiatives. Those initiatives with the help of good weather have changed what was a disastrous situation into one where we can come out the far side without the disastrous financial implication of a serious shortage of fodder. Farmers have incurred enormous expense - it was probably the most expensive year farmers have endured for a long period. There were eight to ten weeks in the summer during which stock were fed at winter levels. That has also left a major merchant debt level which will need to be addressed and which will be a serious issue for the future.

The Minister is not in touch with what is happening in the beef industry. I have never seen farmers as despondent about the industry. I finish a few cattle myself. Everyone in the chain, from the man producing the calf to the man finishing the animal, is absolutely despondent about the future of the beef industry. Costs for finishing cattle have risen by approximately 25% to 30% while the price has gone in the other direction. We can talk all we like about getting increased live exports, getting extra calves away next spring and the hope that various markets will open up. The reality is that we have had 40,000 killed and we are not able to sell 40,000 cattle efficiently. That is the bottom line. Our factories are not able to do it and if they are doing it, they are making a lot of money because they are not paying a viable return to the producer.

Cattle prices are disastrous, as are store prices. The Chairman stated that farmers dread the thought of what they will get for calves next spring. There is despondency throughout the beef industry. Farmers have taken enough. If one asks a suckler farmer, he will say the show is over. The man who bought animals and took them from calves to beef will say the same thing. There is complete lack of confidence in the grading system. We see animals being given O grades but there is no quality assurance. When that beef appears on a supermarket shelf in Dunnes Stores or in a Lidl in London or wherever, the customer will not see there was an O-grade carcass and yet the factory will pay the farmer 12 cent per kilo less for it.

The 30-month restriction was introduced for good reason because of the BSE crisis 20 or 25 years ago. At this stage, it is archaic and, especially with late-maturing breeds, it adds considerable extra cost for farmers and puts the factories in a position of dominance whereby they know the farmers will have to kill the cattle by a certain date and will adjust their price accordingly.

In the Estimate before us, it is proposed to spend an extra €15 million on world aid. I do not suggest that this money will not be well spent. However, we have farmers who are going broke. Certain farmers in areas of natural constraint, especially those who own land on which hen harriers roost, have had their land completely devalued by regulations issued from Brussels. We did not put a scheme in place to restore the value of that land for them. A scheme was put in place, but that land which was worth €4,000 or €5,000 per acre for forestry cannot now be sold. The capital value of that land has been completely decimated. Until we put a scheme back in place to restore the capital value of that land, we are not being fair to those people. The owners of that hen harrier land are being extremely quiet. With a stroke of a pen the entire capital value of their land was eroded.

Our beef industry is in crisis. The kill is at record levels. Our targets for 2020 and for Food Wise 2025 are all lovely, but the primary producer of the cattle is getting decimated and they will leave in droves. They cannot keep taking the losses being incurred. This winter feed costs will be significantly higher. A number of people will say they are not feeding cattle anymore. This summer many of the traditional beef men put aside their land and sold fodder down to the south rather than buying cattle.

The beef industry is in crisis. We can talk about various markets. Representatives from Bord Bia appeared before the committee two weeks ago. I do not ridicule Bord Bia's work; it is an extremely efficient organisation and works very hard. We always said that we could efficiently kill and sell 30,000 cattle. It might have been possible to get to 32,000 or 33,000. However, there is no way that we have markets for the current kill level. Turkey has disappeared as an outlet. Reality must come into it. Men just cannot continue with the returns they are currently getting from the beef industry.

The word I would use to describe the mood among beef farmers is "despondent". Men are making career changes and have said enough is enough and they cannot take anymore. I will not be unfair on the Minister. I will not claim he can dictate the price factories are paying for cattle. However, there must be a realisation that what is happening is not sustainable. We can talk about targets and everything else, but unless there is an economic return for rearing and finishing cattle, men will not stay there. At present, that economic return is not there.

In the early part of the year, the Chairman took us to an Irish Farmers' Journallunch. At the table, I was ridiculed when talking about Friesian cattle and the returns from finishing feeding cattle. The men who were ridiculing me should see if the cap fits. There are farmers in my area who traditionally finished cattle; it will not happen anymore. They will not do it and it is over as far as they are concerned. They have been walked on too often and the price being paid at the back end is the straw that has broken the camel's back. Men just cannot keep going back to it.

I presume the decision has been made in respect of this €15 million, but there are definitely farmers on hen harrier land who need support. People would like to see this spent on trying to secure live export markets. If live exports are to have a significant effect, cattle would have to move in significant numbers. A couple of hundred per week will not make any difference. We need a significant number of live cattle moving from the country if we are put any competition into the trade because it is just not there.

I know a man who had a lot of cows to kill last week. He asked the factory when it would take the cull cow. The cull cow is now in extremely good condition, extremely well fed. He was told the factory could not take them until the third or fourth week of January because its stores were full of beef. We just cannot viably sell the cattle we are killing at the moment. Men have just had enough.