Agriland Media’s Post

Transcript

So the IFA is celebrating its 70th anniversary since its founding this year. How important is it to farmers today as it was in 1955? I think it's every bit as important. The challenges are safely different. I think the, the regulation that farm that's imposed on farmers today from all sides is, uh, is a lot more than it was then. And, and I think the association has evolved over the 70 years. The staff we have today, we have over 70 professional staff working for us in all areas to be able to support farmers. In terms of policy, how that's regulated finance and across the board. And since shaken up your presidency, Francie, what would you say have been your biggest achievement so far? Well, it's been a very busy year since Tim handed over to me this time last year. And look, I think our, our big issue during the year was to make sure that we got agriculture and farming front and central in the election debates, both at local and European and into the doll. And I think that I think the program for government reflects that. Uh, while it's short in terms of financial specifics, the ambitions in it are kind of where we would expect it to be after our discussions. It's with the various political parties and particularly the, even though it's a, it's, it's a single issue, the commitment around Mercosur to oppose the current deal is very, very, very welcome. And we would other, other issues like the sorting out of the, the, the straw chop and the advance payment in acres that the minister did was to be very, very welcoming. And look, I think we had a good relationship overall with the minister during the year. And, and whoever is minister in the next government, we look forward to the same, same, same relationship again. And what. Some of the biggest issues that your association is focusing on at the minute and some of the biggest challenges for farmers currently. Well, I suppose they didn't reference, but it's ongoing from the beginning of the year. And we said it, the derogation obviously is a huge issue. And I think the way that all stakeholders, farm organizations, the industry have come together, support from the various political parties that have the need to hold on to it, um, is, is very welcome. But to be clear, um, farmers need to continue doing what they've done for the last 12 to 18 months. And we've got to have the political support that's promised to hold on to the derogation. That's a huge one. The nature restoration or the ongoing involvement at the capital gotiations, which will really take off this year. And look, the cost of doing business and how regulation increases the cost of production at farm level is something that's going to have to be addressed as well. And how do you plan to help farmers in 2025? What will the focus be on? Well, it'll be kind of more the same. I'm a believer that today a job is very important that every day you get up, you have to stay addressing the issues that are of importance to farmers. And we've gone through them kind of already into to a approach them in a, in a fact based manner to be credible. And how we go about negotiations and how we go about trying to deliver for farmers and, and whatever has to be done for farmers during the year to dry and deliver on that agenda, we, we will do and, and look, we'd be hoping that. Farmers, whatever we ask them to do at whatever stage that they'll back us. And they've always believed that once farmers see that you're making a genuine effort to deliver for them, they'll back you. And the new government is due to be formed shortly. What will be the main asks for farmers to the new government and to have whoever may be the Minister for Agriculture? I think along along alongside the issues that we've announced already, I think it's very, very important that the government sits down and, and, and, and discusses the important issues of the day with farmers. Because there is a disconnect between people who are creating policy and how it's operated on the ground because those, a lot of those people, through no fault of their own, no longer come from a farming background and they don't see how it's going to be implemented at farm level. So and on top of delivering and all the issues that we've mentioned, we do need to see a continuation of real discussion around how policy is formulated and how it's implemented. And in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the IFA, you'll be holding your AGM shortly. Could you tell me a little bit about what people might expect at that and what lies ahead for the association? So we have a 2 day GM this year to mark 70 years of of the associate founding of the association and the 6th of January 1955. The keynote of the of the two days would be the visit of the new Commissioner for Agriculture. And I've had the opportunity to hear him in Brussels and was really impressed by him. Maybe looking forward to all members here and here and obviously traditionally we would have we would have had the teacher and the minister for agriculture in but we government likely to be formed in the day. We're not sure yet whether whether they will be attending in attendance or not. But look if they're not there this year, we're looking forward to having them in years to come. But overall I'm looking forward to the two days and look to be fair, this association has been built and the people who went before us and the people who took the hard yards and it's our job to try and make sure that we can just following their footsteps and. Keep doing the job and the principles of the founding principles of the association. And speaking to the commissioner at the AGM, what points will you get across in terms of Mercosur, the importance and the damage that the Mercosur deal is going to have, particularly in our beef and our poultry industry. And there's huge opposition to it across Europe. He knows that. And obviously generation renewal is a huge issue and keep making the point that if we don't have the next generation of farmers coming to replace the likes of myself, we're not going to have an industry. And, and that and, and the way you support the next generation of farmers, it's twofold you need. Sentence there to bring them in you need incentives for people to hand over but you have to support the current generation of farmers as well because if you don't have something to hand over there's no point in putting incentives in place and how does the IFA plan to help these young farmers we'll engage with the commissioner generation of renewal that the that the minister is set up it's a it's going to report in in a very short time time frame and there's a commitment in the program for government to support the next generation of farmers coming in so around the incentives that we've spoken about and and. Know you support the next generation, we'll be making our submission based and those those two principles.