Agriculture minister announces crop support scheme and new fair trade authority

A targeted intervention package for the tillage sector and a multi-species sward initiative, worth over €12 million to support Irish farmers, has been announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.

“We are living in unprecedented times," he said after yesterday's cabinet meeting.

"The illegal invasion in Ukraine has put our supply chains under enormous pressure, with extraordinarily high input prices and potential supply chain disruption. This is why I have put in place a Rapid Response Team in my Department and I established the National Fodder and Food Security Committee to examine how best to advise the sector to manage the disruptions. Today’s package is aimed at producing more native crops while reducing dependency on imports and on crops with a low demand for chemical fertiliser, which is limited in supply as a result of the invasion.”

Minister McConalogue added: “I am thankful to my cabinet colleagues for supporting this package. I have asked my Department officials to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the European Commission in the coming days to finalise the package. I committed to standing by our farm families during this crisis and I will continue to do so in the time ahead.

“I urge farmers to take account of this package when deciding on crops to sow in the coming days and weeks. I also remind farmers that the crops declared on their 2022 Basic Payment Scheme application will be the basis for any future payments for these tillage and protein crops.”

Minister McConalogue also announced that the cabinet has approved a General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022.

This Bill, when enacted, will establish a new independent statutory authority which will be known as the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain.

“I am acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that there is fairness in the agricultural and food supply chain for farmers, fishers and other food suppliers," he stated.

"A viable and resilient agri-food sector, in particular for primary producers, is a key priority for me as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and for the Government. Events of recent weeks reminded us all of the fragility of the agri-food supply chain, and it is now more important than ever to ensure that there is an independent voice to promote and indeed enforce, the principles of fairness and transparency in that chain.

‘This new Office will bring greater transparency all along the agricultural and food supply chain. It will do this by performing a price and market analysis and reporting function – publishing reports on price and market information on all sectors in the agri-food supply chain. It will engage with retailers, processors, wholesalers, farmers, fishers, and others on matters effecting fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain. The Office will also, as the State’s designated Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority, be responsible for ensuring that buyers in the agri-food supply chain do not implement unfair practices in their business-to-business relationships with suppliers.”

IFA president Tim Cullinan said: “We have waited a long time for this. We look forward to seeing the draft legislation and to having genuine input into what powers the office will have.

“It must have full powers of investigation and be able to compel actors in the chain to provide them with real data and back up documentation. Just doing ‘market analysis’ based on ‘publicly available’ information will not cut it,” he said.

“This Office will be crucial in ensuring a fair share of the consumer euro goes to farmers, and in regulating unfair trading practices. If it does not ensure a viable price for farmers for their work and investment, then we will see more farmers in horticulture, potatoes and the pig and poultry sectors go out of business."

“Large retailers using their dominant position to drive down prices to farmers to unviable levels, often below the cost of production, has to stop,” he concluded.