Mr. Angus Woods:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear. The IFA is fully committed to supporting our national suckler herd and the approximately 75,000 full and part-time farmers involved in the enterprise. In practice, this means campaigning hard to get the Government to provide additional targeted direct support for sucklers and working to secure a price premium for quality suckler beef. The most recent numbers from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine show that we are now down to approximately 67.000 farmers, a drop of almost 9,800 over the past ten years. Cow numbers are down by approximately 76,000 over the same period. However, suckler registrations in recent years have been falling at a rate of 30,000 to 40,0000 per year, significantly more than is initially apparent.

Following an intensive IFA campaign on sucklers throughout 2018 and with substantial help from members of the committee, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced an additional €20 million of national resources to assist the suckler herd in budget 2019. The new beef environmental efficiency pilot, BEEP, scheme, worth €40 per suckler cow, will be introduced in January 2019. While it was a clear recognition by the Minister of the income problems in the suckler sector and the €40 per cow is welcome, it is not enough and it is clear that far more needs to be done to help sustain the suckler sector.

We have met the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the implementation of the scheme. The Department has outlined that the beef environmental efficiency pilot will involve a simple application in February, weighing cows and calves once during the year and submitting the details to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation by app, online or on paper. We have made it clear that the full €40 per cow must be paid to farmers. In addition, we have strongly emphasised that the measures under the new scheme must be kept simple and be farmer-friendly. The beef data and genomics scheme, BDGP, which is worth €44.4 million per annum to 24,200 suckler farmers, got bogged down in unnecessary bureaucracy because the Government did not listen to farmers in the design stage. Payments of €100 per cow on the first ten cows and €80 on the remainder cannot not be ignored considering the low levels of income in suckling. The scheme has completed four years and has two more to run to 2022. Now is the time to complete a review of the scheme, work out how it can be changed and simplified, and plan for its future continuation.

In advance of CAP 2020, the IFA is lobbying hard at national and European level to reverse the budget cuts proposed by the Commission and to seek an increase in the CAP budget. We want member states to increase their contributions to protect direct payments and farm income and take account of inflation. CAP direct payments are critical to livestock farmers, and increasing targeted payments under Pillar 2 will be essential. We must be aware of the fact that originally CAP payments such as the special beef premium, slaughter premium and the suckler cow premium were targeted at livestock farmers. Many beef farmers have witnessed severe cuts to their direct payments and incomes during recent CAP reforms, and this cannot continue under the Hogan reforms. Increased targeted support for suckler farmers must come from a larger CAP Pillar 2 and additional national resources. The IFA has been clear in its view that reform cannot involve any cuts to the basic payment scheme. Suckler farmers must be properly rewarded with a significant beef price premium to reflect the superior quality and higher production standards and associated costs.

In recent meetings with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, and the factories, we have proposed a significant suckler-bred bonus for prime cattle coming from the suckler herd. The meat industry has emphasised the importance of maintaining the suckler herd from a quality and marketing perspective. Those in the industry must match this with a price premium.

A strong live export trade to drive competition and provide alternative market outlets is essential for the beef sector and the suckler cow herd. The Government needs to support the live export trade strongly and increase capacity, especially considering the increase in our dairy cow numbers. The Minister and the Department must work with the exporters, Bord Bia, the ferry companies and shippers to target a major increase in live exports for 2019.

There are many challenges to the Irish beef sector and our specialised suckler cow sector. These include the challenges of Brexit, CAP reform, Mercosur trade negotiations and beef prices below the costs of production. However, the biggest single issue is low farm incomes. Incomes on suckler farms are far too low and under severe pressure. The latest Teagasc figures for 2018 point to an income of a little over €10,000, which represents a 19% income fall from 2017. This is not sustainable and Government action must be taken to address it.

We need a stronger and more supportive policy from Government for the suckler cow sector, and we need to maintain our vitally important suckler cow herd. To do this, we need a targeted direct payment of €200 per cow. We need a major price premium for suckler beef, and we need a strong live export trade that will drive competition.