Dairy farmers feel ‘betrayed’ by nitrates decision

Dairy farm families feel betrayed by Minister McConologue and this Government following the decision on the Nitrates derogation, according to IFA National Dairy Chair Stephen Arthur.

“I have spoken to many dairy farmers since this was announced and a feeling of shock and betrayal is the mood out there. Most who are in derogation are farming small to average size farms and this is going to make many of them unviable unless they can find expensive land to rent, that they do not require other than for nitrates calculation purposes,” said Mr Arthur.

“In the last 10 years, dairy farmers have followed Government policy and invested on their farms. Now a change in policy will leave a generation of family farms facing a serious threat to their viability,” he said.

“The lack of support from the Government is startling. Derogation farmers have had ever more stringent rules imposed on them over the last number of years, the latest being banding at the start of 2023. Instead of allowing time for the new measures to take effect and work with farmers on the journey to improving water quality, this blunt instrument is being imposed. There was no consultation when the Department of Agriculture agreed to this mid-term review and Teagasc have indicated it will result in negligible if any improvements for water,” Mr Arthur stated.

Meanwhile, the President of ICMSA has accused the Government of ‘selling out’ family dairy farms and rolling over for the EU Commission on the question of maintaining Ireland’s current derogation on the Nitrates Directive.

Mr Pat McCormack claimed that the Government’s “abject surrender” on the issue meant that Ireland’s multi-billion euro dairy sector was now in “a very dangerous place” due to failing farm prices and production restrictions.

He said that effective control of the most sustainable and profitable part of our farming and agri-sector had been handed over to the Commission without so much as a murmur of protest by those charged with defending it and one would have to ask the question whether the Government had ever intended defending the derogation or whether their public statements had been a charade.

“Against most of the evidence ICMSA has wanted to believe that the more realistic elements of this Government understood that the continuation of Ireland’s 250kgs derogation from the Nitrates Directive was both absolutely necessary and eminently possible if we were willing to mount a skilful campaign based on the evidence that is already emerging. No such campaign was ever mounted by this Government and this Minister and consequently we have had our N limits reduced to 220 kgs in defiance of all the evidence – economic and environmental – that the existing 250kgs is perfectly compatible with improving water quality while maintaining the production capacity so indispensable when prices are falling to the extent that farmer revenue will be down by in excess of €2 billion this year,” said Mr. McCormack.

Mr.McCormack said that with this one decision, this Government had put a nail in the coffin of many family dairy farms that have been worked for generations.