Mr. James Healy:

I am the Macra na Feirme national president and I am joined by Mr. Derrie Dillon, Macra na Feirme agricultural affairs manager, and Ms Jennifer Keegan, our agricultural policy officer. Macra na Feirme welcomes the opportunity to present the views of young trained farmers on the future of the beef sector to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This year, the organisation celebrates 75 years of representing, supporting and developing young farmers to help them overcome the challenges they and their communities face. Our young beef farmers are facing great uncertainty, which emphasises the need for action to develop a pragmatic action plan for the sector. We must work to restore the confidence of those that keep this sector alive.

Through an extensive consultation process, Macra na Feirme engaged with and consulted young beef farmers across the country both through surveys and at six meetings which encouraged them to debate their views on the future of the sector. We asked them to identify the current strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats facing the beef sector. Although confidence among farmers is clearly low at this time, our members identified a number of strengths that must be acknowledged. We have just highlighted two of those in our presentation. The work of Bord Bia through the sustainable beef and lamb assurance scheme and, in particular, the Origin Green promotion campaign is recognised by young farmers as playing a major role in making Irish beef the trusted product it is. The scheme ensures that our beef products are produced to the highest levels of animal welfare and sustainability. This is capitalised on by Bord Bia through the Origin Green campaign, which has played a major part in highlighting these positives to consumers both here and internationally. However this is not to say that young farmers feel that access to new markets is necessarily rewarding them as it should.

Another strength of the Irish beef sector is our grass-based system as a relatively low cost feed source. It is imperative for Irish beef farmers to take advantage of this, as feed typically accounts for 75% of total variable costs on the average suckler beef farm. This is a strength that is not being capitalised on to its full potential and steps must be taken to broaden the access to training and advisory services which can give our beef farmers the knowledge and technical skills required to maximise the resource at our feet.

We cannot ignore the basic fact that the return to beef farmers for the quality product they produce is not sufficient to sustain a viable income for the vast majority of them, regardless of the beef production system they have chosen to operate. I doubt the committee needs me to outline the numbers, but I hope its members understand the harsh realities that this raises in the homes of those farmers. It must also be said that it is very hard to be green, safe or future-facing if one is in the red.

The expansion of the dairy sector in Ireland was identified as a substantial challenge for young beef farmers going forward. Since the removal of milk quotas in 2015, the suckler herd population has experienced a 4% decline. At the end of 2010 the total number of suckler cows in Ireland stood at 911,104. By the end of 2017, that figure had dropped to 870,567. While good work has been done in boosting the levels of export, the expansion of the dairy herd has led to high numbers of cattle being killed weekly, which has been exploited by those further down the supply chain.

The age profile of the average beef farmer was once a growing concern within the industry. It must now be at the forefront of our thoughts. This is demonstrated by the regularity with which Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, highlights his concern about the age profile. For the Irish beef sector to continue providing the high quality produce it does, beef processors and retailers must wake up and realise that their future business is inextricably linked to providing an economically sustainable future for young beef farmers. Macra na Feirme proposes the payment of a young farmer bonus, recognising that young farmers are the most likely to adopt change and put in place the advances in technology that will drive the future of this sector.

I will now refer to opportunities. From its grass-fed nature to its distinctive colour and eating experience, Irish beef is ideally placed to be recognised and protected at European level under the European quality schemes and geographical indications. A geographical indication mark for Irish beef has the potential to add significant value to our quality beef product. This added value needs to be returned to the primary producers for their work and production techniques in producing this distinctive product which consumers clearly identify and associate with.

The development of producer organisations must also play an important role in the future of our sector. These organisations give farmers without size or scale the bargaining power of large-scale beef producers when dealing with the industry and encourage more efficiency in the processing end of the sector. A good working ethos and an understanding of the needs of the group are essential to ensuring the unity of its members. Ideally the group would source an independent facilitator to set up and run the group, encourage proper governance and promote its aims and objectives. Every possible assistance and support must be made available for the setting up of these groups.

It is also important that the best available breeding techniques are used to ensure that the value of this output is maximised for the beef sector and the economy. This will also benefit us from an environmental sustainability point of view. Breeding techniques will help the farmer to achieve key performance targets for the farm, such as calving heifers at 24 months of age. The improvement of the overall genetics of the herd can be achieved by breeding high-index replacement heifers, purchasing five-star bulls and the use of artificial insemination, AI. In particular, the use of sexed semen could play an important role in reducing the carbon emissions of the beef sector by allowing farmers to choose the correct straw for their requirements, whether those involve breeding replacements or having cattle for finishing. As per our previous budget submissions, the use of sexed semen must be supported, possibly by removing value added tax, VAT. Significant work must also be done with the AI companies to look at the development of a centre for creating fresh sexed semen here in Ireland so that its reliability can be maximised.