Professor Gerry Boyle:

Yes. I was making this point elsewhere. I refer to the period of economic expansion in 1958 when soil fertility was emphasised. It is ironic that nearly 60 years later, we have an issue. I remember at another meeting with this committee when a Deputy asked me about the sea sand subsidy and it brought back memories of the early 1960s. The view in Teagasc is that soil fertility has to be a major plank of the new Food Harvest 2025 because it is a basic requirement. There has been a slippage in recent years. I take the points raised about land availability. It is the old conundrum and it goes back to farming not being seen as a business. I am very hopeful that the innovative changes in the budget will reap rewards in time. It may take a few years for that message to get across but I am hopeful.

Deputy Heydon raised the issue of the management of hedging. Insurance schemes are available internationally, some of which are private schemes and many are State-subsidised. There is a significant risk attached because, invariably, the State ends up carrying the can. I refer to problems of moral hazard, for example, from my reading of these schemes. It would have to be an EU-wide scheme rather than just in Ireland or else the scheme would be bankrupt very quickly. The idea of a farmer voluntarily holding case reserves is an inefficient response to the issue.

Deputy Heydon referred to the Leader schemes. Teagasc has very extensive relationships with Leader. We operate through Leader via our options programme by which Teagasc can sit down with a farm family and discuss their options for the future. Some of those options might well involve the development of an on-farm, off-farm business. Having clarified a family's options and looked at the opportunities, we would then pass them on to Leader as one of the key funding agencies. I wish our relationship with Leader were closer and I have argued for that but it is, none the less, very close. Many of our advisers and regional managers are members of Leader boards around the country and I actively encourage that participation. For example, Teagasc was heavily involved in the CEDRA programme along with all those agencies. We try to play the role of honest broker. We have almost daily contact with 40,000 farmers which is a substantial pool and therefore we are a resource which Leader can use.

I take the points made about the beef sector. There is a need for a debate on the significant issues in that sector. I refer to the numerical relationship and that the reduction in beef numbers may be a consequence of an expansion in dairying. The nature of the cow is another issue that farmers have brought to my attention. They ask what is going to happen to the beef industry if there is a greater expansion in cross-bred animals. That is a legitimate point of view which will feature in the Food Harvest 2025 debate. We are very hopeful that research could nuance that relationship between beef and dairy, particularly with regard to sex semen and managing the progeny, the production of male and female animals.

I hope I have dealt with all of the questions raised.