The President of ICMSA, Pat McCormack, said that nobody could be unaware of the widespread perception in rural areas that the government has taken a decision to ‘wind down’ Ireland’s commercial farming sector and, within that, specifically target commercial family dairy farms.

Mr McCormack was speaking after attending Virginia Agricultural Show and said that he was struck by the unanimous opinion of all he spoke to there that – regardless of public announcement – a policy of ‘managed decline’ has been decided upon and that whenever the government is faced with a choice that either supports commercial farming or disadvantages it, then they will unfailingly choose to the latter. Mr McCormack said that while ICMSA did not necessarily subscribe to that belief, it was undeniable that even the most cursory glance at the government’s record on every single issue pertaining to farming showed a bias against commercial farming and specifically against commercial family dairy farms.

“Obviously the government is going to strenuously deny that they are anti-farming. But they would want to start backing that up with action and funding. Because the totally unanimous belief out there amongst our members is that on every single occasion that this government has been faced with an ‘either/or’ choice between helping farmers or hindering them, then they have hindered them every single time. A really obvious example of this is the difference between the way the government looks at, for instance, data centres one the one hand and our dairy sector on the other. They seem to contort themselves looking for ways to accommodate vast energy-consuming foreign-owned data centres that employ less people than a nearby Co-op store. Meanwhile, there’s a steady flow of regulations and restrictions and costs all aimed at farmers and coming from every direction that all combine to make it harder day by day to produce the food that is the real economic and indigenous infrastructure of these local communities”, said Mr McCormack.

The ICMSA President said that he was amazed that more rural members of parliament (TDs) were not aware of the degree to which their rural constituencies had now identified this double standard. “It’s not our place to point out the obvious to rural TDs, but nobody can say they weren’t told. In fairness to some representatives from all parties, we are aware of individual politicians who admit their confusion over official policy. But that won’t be anywhere near enough come a General Election, and we think that there’s going to be a degree of shock at the extent to which traditional farmer support will either stay home or switch. There’s a Budget in four weeks, and if ever there was a time to signal that the government understands the extent of disappointment and downright anger amongst the farming communities, then this is it”, concluded the ICMSA President. 

Pat McCormack, President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers‘ Association (ICMSA)

“France is setting a new record for soil dryness on a daily basis”, warned the French meteorological service in late July. With a shortfall of 85% of rain across the country and record temperatures, the soil was even drier than it was on the same date in 1976 and 2003. If this was not enough, things are likely to get even worse in August.

The consequences are already affecting livestock farmers all over France. In mountainous areas, some of them have been forced to bring their herds back down from alpine pastures. In Pays de la Loire as well as in Brittany and the North of France, livestock farmers have seen their fodder yields cut in half and their maize yields reduced by 50 to 80%. According to Agreste (agricultural statistical office), the deficit in plant growth reached 60% in July in the south of France, and not a single drop of rain has fallen in the Provence, Alpes and Côte d’Azur region since the beginning of summer. In all corners of the country, farmers are bringing their herds back inside due to a lack of pastures for grazing and are feeding them fodder actually meant for winter.

Some like Tanguy Le Bonniec, organic dairy farmer in a farming grouping (GAEC) in Côtes-d’Armor (550,000 litres/year on 110 hectares), are already anticipating a drop in production: “This year, our stocks have reduced by 50% as we started using them five months earlier than usual. In order to compensate, we have downsized our herd and dried off our first-calf heifers for six months instead of two. Coupled with the reduced milk volume due to low-quality pastures, we are looking at an estimated drop of 150,000 litres in milk sales. With milk sold at 0.5 euro per litre, that represents 75,000 euros, add to that a price drop of 50 euros per 1000 litres, i.e., another 20,000 euros, and an estimated additional 10,000 euros to buy hay, and we are set to experience a loss of revenue of 100,000 euros.” Estimates by Coordination Rurale in Brittany show that the cost of the drop in maize yield is about 100 euros per 1000 litres.

In this situation of drought, some suckler-cow farmers “will have no other choice but to sell their herd as they cannot feed their cows grass nor can they buy in feed due to a lack of funds for feed that is just too expensive,” predicts S. Charbonneau, head of the Meat Section at Coordination Rurale. According to this livestock farmer from Vendée, this context “threatens a very severe reduction of the suckler herd in France.” This situation has already played out in the south of France – in the Aubrac plateau where the authorities were forced to bring in water tankers because of the severity of the drought. Livestock farmer Noël Entraygues states that fellow herders prefer to sell off their dairy cows prematurely because they simply do not have the funds to keep them fed.

Restrictions on irrigation for agriculture have been enforced in all departments of metropolitan France to differing degrees (complete ban or limited amounts or during specific times, see map of France); however, this is not stopping people from attacking farmers and their herds. Acts of sabotage, like those on two water reservoirs in Vendée, have sadly become a regular occurrence. Drinking troughs are also not spared like in Haute-Marne where dozens of animals died of thirst after their water troughs were emptied.

In light of this reality, CR's key demands only become more relevant: guaranteeing decent producer prices is absolutely urgent; water storage in winter must be increased to facilitate access to irrigation and thus secure yields and income. While the government does not control the rain and the weather, it must measure the impact of this historic drought and release crisis funds immediately to help farmers survive this dire situation and thus preserve the country’s food sovereignty.

Sophie Lenaerts, Head of the Dairy section at Coordination Rurale

On 1 July, the national meeting of Portuguese milk producers brought together about a hundred APROLEP member farmers and practitioners from the dairy sector at Vacaria and Queijaria (farm and cheese dairy) ‘Flor do Vale’ in the village of Alfeizerão, Alcobaça.

The meeting was hosted by APROLEP President Jorge Silva and his family who received the participants with great hospitality and showed them around the dairy and the cheese-making area, followed by lunch. The meeting was also attended by Rui Martinho, Secretary of State for Agriculture. It featured a panel debate on the topic of “The cost of production and the milk price”, involving producers and representatives of cooperatives and the dairy industry. The panel discussion was chaired by APROLEP's Secretary General, Carlos Neves.

The average cost of milk production in Portugal has increased by 51% since the beginning of the year as a result of rising prices for the means of production. However, the farm-gate milk price paid by the industry has increased by a mere 35%, which is obviously insufficient, denounced milk producer André Barão. Cereal prices reached a record high this year, at 410 euros per ton for corn and 585 euros per ton for soybeans, inflating the cost of feed.

Portugal has the second lowest milk producer price among all EU member states (40 cents on average); according to the industry, this is due to the price pressure exerted by large retailers.

The lack of economic sustainability in dairy farming should be a major concern for the dairy industry because it means that there is a risk of younger generations turning their back on milk production. The threat is real and the statistics confirm it: the period from 1999 to 2019 witnessed a considerable decrease in the number of dairy farms (90.7% in mainland Portugal and 52.5% in the Azores). Currently, there are 3.800 active milk producers in Portugal.

Carlos Neves, Secretary General of Associação dos Produtores de Leite de Portugal (APROLEP)