Would be an idea to start a thread to discuss where this €100m should go.
Personally I think it’s of little use to farmers in the long term, it’s only going to cause more division between farmers “divide and conquer”
What’s the definition of a feedlot?
What’s the definition of a factory controlled feedlot?
What’s definition of a farmer?
It’s proving very difficult to get consensus on the definition of a “genuine farmer” or “active farmer”
In the cap negotiations.
It’s going to be a mess, it was well timed with the local and European elections, as I understand it the EU is putting up €50m with the Irish government expected to match this figure.
As I see it the low prices can be traced back to the drought problems of last summer, the price of store cattle fell, (we were in a good enough position at the time, we had grass and we bought most of our cattle then, we’re not big finishers) this contributed to lower beef prices during the winter, keeping beef prices low, this allows the Irish beef to stay competitive in the UK, in doing so it’s makes the market look less attractive for South American processors and British buyers are more likely to stick with Irish beef post brexit.
That’s my thinking, others may disagree.
Throwing more and more money at a tight margin business is not the answer, most farmers don’t know their costs, nor could they tell you what the average price they got for the cattle they sold over the previous year or a number of years.
If it’s not paying to keep a suckler cow, give it up, If it’s not paying to buy a suck calf, a weanling or a store animal and bring them onto beef, give it up, the sfp can be collected, as can glas, a bit of land can be planted, if land is of good quality fodder could be grown for the expannding dairy herd.
Or consider the nuclear option lease the farm and get the rent tax free.
Farmers are and have been their own worst enemy for many years imo.
We in all areas of beef farming need to have a good look around inside our own gate.
Conversation to dairy may suit some but it’s not for all.
@Seedsower made a brave move, getting into farm tourism, its great to see a farmer make a change and try out something different, instead of doing the same thing again and again and expecting a better result, it’s not for everyone and it’s vey dependent on location, I hope it goes well for them and hopefully someone else on here will learn from his experiences and go off and try something different too.
Anyway back to the €100m,
It will be very hard to have a scheme to suit all.
I’d suggest a payment per head on calves born to a suckler cow in 2018.
No cap on the number of cows, any full time suckler farmer deserves it.
A payment per head on beef cattle slaughtered, I’d suggest from September 2018 to now the end of May 2019.
Put a cap on the number of eligible animals per herd, the number would need to be in the mid hundreds (300 to 500) this should facilitate most genuine finishing farmers, while preventing a factory owned feedlot getting money on 1000’s of cattle.
All eligible cattle should have to be in the herd for a minimum number of days, perhaps 70 days as with the quality assurance might be a suitable figure.
Rough figures.
900000 cows at €50/head €45m
30 weeks cumulative slaughter numbers, would be excess of 1m cattle, allowing for the capping and some animals not qualifying as a result of not being in the herd for long enough the figure would be lower.
If it were to be 900000 eligible cattle the figure would be €50/head €45m.
A suckler farmer who brought his cattle to slaughter would be eligible for both.
My figures are rough enough, it’s gives an idea of what could be done with €100m.
This won’t please everyone, however it gets the money to those who need it most imo and who earned it, the farmer who goes out and buys a few expensive cattle in the spring to eat the grass and satisfy stocking rate rules, only to return and sell them again when the grass stops growing, is the least deserving of any compensation in my view.