yeah and that’s fair enough. I guess I see this really as a big problem from the whole sector. I get everyone has to look out for themselves but I think it’s only going to end in disaster.
Let’s not forget the government also let banks lend for people to have 4/6 houses a plane. We have been here before imo and that ended in tears. Problem I see with this is the amount of low value land being driven to crazy price. I just personally have a very concerned outlook for the industry as a whole. Beef is on its knees if not on the chopping block, dairy maybe heading a similar road other than the “big men” .
I personally feel the dairy industry is a bit like a time bomb. It’s not a matter of if,but when for me. Thinking about our own place, we are one of the few around me that didn’t go all in.still an old 6 unit, that really hasn’t seen huge upgrades in 10/20 years. We are still milking only 80 cows with a “beef” side(using that term lightly!) for cash flow mainly. This banding essentially means we have a decision to make between renting land, or losing a part of the business that been here for 3/4 generations. So we are going to end up adding to the problem ourselves.I know I’m still in somewhat of a privileged position so I’m not looking for sympathy or anything. But I feel dairy has been pushed too far and it’s all big money and mental heath of the country is bad enough. .and let’s not forget we still have fucking tb around along with bvd!
Labour will be a big problem. It already is. Cost of living is gone crazy from both the farmer and the worker and everyone else in between. Rush are getting richer and poor poorer.
There are cracks in any industry and price fluctuations will mean that vulnerable operators will crack, that's the nature of capitalism.
Labour is a problem in every industry in the developed world and not confined to dairy farms in Ireland. As people get wealthier, we are expecting more for doing less.
When dairy expansion started here in 2013, we were told that the market would quickly become flooded and we'd end up like the builders in the recession. 10 years later and the markets for dairy are still strong with no great increase in production to be talked about.
A big difference between dairy and beef in this country is that dairy sells produce to make money and has moved away from depending on government support. It has been successful in creating a market for it's produce that it has a natural competitive advantage over other countries (ie. producing milk from grass). Our beef industry has been competing with grain fed beef lots.
Environmental constraints will halt the dairy expansion story, which already halted last year anyway! We have to remember that a whole generation never got to see extra dairy cows in the country so there was going to be a period of adjustment when quotas were removed.
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