OPENING STATEMENT BY IFA PRESIDENT EDDIE DOWNEY TO THE JOINT
OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, FOOD & THE MARINE
ON TARGETED SUPPORT FOR THE SHEEP SECTOR
October 6th 2015.
Chairman, Deputies and Senators,
Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
I am joined today by John Lynskey IFA National Sheep Committee Chairman, Peter Shields IFA National
Sheep Committee vice chairman, Pat Smith IFA General Secretary and Kevin Kinsella IFA Director of
Livestock.
Today, we wish to outline the case for increased supports for the sheep sector and outline specific proposals
IFA has put forward to Minister Coveney and the Department of Agriculture on behalf of sheep farmers.
Importance of the Sheep Sector
The sheep sector is the third largest farming sector in Ireland with over 34,000 producers and an output value
of €300m pa.
The sector is very important in terms of the number of farmers involved, strong export earnings of €220m, the
very positive social and environmental contributions it makes in rural areas and particularly in remote areas
and on the hills, where it is not possible to conduct any other type of farming enterprise.
Sheep farming is particularly important in counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Kerry and Wicklow, and is also
strong in counties Roscommon, Cork, Wexford, Meath, Tipperary, Sligo and Carlow. (Table 1 and Figure 1)
A study conducted by Professor Alan Renwick from UCD in 2013 showed that for each €1 of output produced
on sheep farms, due to the multiplier effect, an additional €1.33 of output is generated in the Irish economy
and each €1 of support for sheep underpins €2.70 of aggregate output in the Irish economy.
Production and Exports
Total sheep meat production amounts to 58,000t per annum, and Ireland is the third largest exporter in the EU
with exports of 46,000t. Our main markets are France, UK, Belgium, Germany, and Scandinavia.
There are 8 key meat plants involved in processing lambs for export and a larger number of small abattoirs
servicing the domestic butcher trade. Lamb consumption on the domestic market accounts for about 15,700t.,
with retail sales valued at €102m.
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Sheep Farm incomes
Incomes on sheep farms are challenging and direct payments are hugely important in helping to maintain
viability. The Teagasc 2014 National Farm Survey shows an average sheep income of €14,551 or only about
44% of the average annual earnings.
CAP Reforms
The sheep sector has not fared well in previous CAP reforms. In the original McSharry reforms, the ewe
premium system strongly supported incomes and drove numbers, which increased from below 2m ewes in the
late 1980s to almost 5m in the 1990s.
Under the Fishler reforms, with the move to decoupling, ewe numbers declined rapidly again dropping back to
2.2m. IFA worked hard to get support for the sector and various initiatives were undertaken to stabilise
numbers, including the Malone Report and the introduction of €18m under the sheep grassland payment,
financed from unused CAP funds.
The sheep grassland scheme was cut in the 2012 budget down to €14m for 2013 and €3m transferred to the
STAP (Sheep Technology Programme) scheme. Payments at farm level reduced from about €8.50 per ewe
back to €6.35 per ewe on a maximum of 210 ewes.
In the most recent CAP reform there were no specific policy elements agreed for the sheep sector under either
pillar 1 or pillar 2, unlike the beef sector where the suckler beef genomics scheme from the Pillar 2 RDP was
introduced, worth €52m pa.
As part of the current CAP Reform, IFA lobbied strongly for a coupled payment for sheep, which was rejected
by Minister Coveney and his Department.
Instead, the Minister incorporated the sheep grassland payment into the single farm payment of sheep farmers
and increased its value to €15m through unused funds and modulation.
However, we now have a situation where we do not have a targeted sheep specific payment that will support
and develop the sector.
I would now like to hand over to our National Sheep Chairman John Lynskey to go through some of the detail
proposals with you.
Increased Support for the Sheep Sector
In order to maintain and grow the national sheep flock there is a need for increased targeted direct support for
sheep production from a combination of EU and national funds. Support should be targeted
at active producers.
A number of EU countries have introduced coupled payments for sheep as part of their CAP 2015/2020 plans.
As reported in last week’s Farmers Journal, 22 member states have introduced varying levels of coupling for
sheep. The average payment is €12 per head. A total of €486m or 12% of coupled payments is being
allocated to sheep. In France payments are varying from €16 to €27 per head. In Spain, the range is from €8
to €13 per head.
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Through a combination of CAP and National funds, there is a budget of €580m per annum in the Rural
Development Programme for 2015-2020. IFA worked hard to secure matching funds for the RDP. New
schemes are being rolled out through GLAS, Knowledge Transfer, Beef Genomics and TAMS II.
Sheep farmers are entitled to their fair share and access to these funds and schemes. IFA is insisting that
sheep farmers get the best deal possible.
To maintain the national ewe flock, the sheep sector requires targeted sheep specific payments to the
equivalent to €20 per ewe. IFA is demanding that Minister Coveney starts providing funding for this, with
priority access to a number of schemes and the allocation of €25m for a direct payment.
GLAS
Sheep farmers must have priority access to the GLAS payment of up to €5,000 p.a. All qualifying sheep
farmers should be accepted into the scheme. In addition, mixed grazing involving cattle and sheep should
qualify as a payment measure. The latest move to limit the scheme and exclude farmers from the second
phase is not acceptable. The changes to the low-input permanent pasture and traditional hay meadows
effectively halves the value of those measures which are vital for sheep and cattle farmers. This must be
addressed and 50,000 applicants allowed join.
For commonage farmers, plans must be implemented in a flexible way to maximise participation in line with the
IFA commonage strategy. The restrictions on GLAS+ must be eased so that hill sheep farmers and
commonage farmers can qualify.
Knowledge Transfer
The current STAP (Sheep Technology Advisory Programme) scheme has been very successful, with over
4,000 sheep farmer participants. This must be built upon and IFA is proposing that a target of 10,000
participants be included in the new Knowledge Transfer scheme for sheep in 2016.
The Knowledge Transfer programme must be simple and practical. Mixed cattle and sheep farms must
continue to qualify for a level of separate payment. Likewise mixed tillage and sheep farms should also qualify
for additional payments.
IFA has made our views very clear to the Minister on the unacceptable situation over the issue of making
payments to advisors/facilitators as opposed directly to farmers and also on the actual level of payments.
TAMS II
TAMS II must have a significant and dedicated level of funding for investment in the sheep sector.
The decision of the Minister to exclude sheep fencing and technology equipment in the recent TAMS II
announcement was wrong and must be reversed. The Minister must include these items under the
amendment currently being prepared on the RDP programme to be submitted to Brussels.
ANCs
Payments for Areas of Natural Constraint (formerly DAS) should be restored to their pre-2008 levels.
This involves a restoration of payment rates at farm level and restoration of the payment status of farmers in
split holdings.
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Market access
The Government, in conjunction with Bord Bia, must adopt a strong market access policy to open up new high
value markets like US, China and others, and remove the access restrictions and difficulties associated with
TSEs for both sheep meat and live animals. We also need to develop market outlets for light lamb.
Other Policy areas that are important for sheep producers include the need for Teagasc to maintain a strong
independent sheep research and advisory programme with Athenry as a centre of excellence. In addition,
Teagasc needs to increase the numbers of sheep farms in the BETTER Farms Programme.
Bord Bia promotional funding for Irish lamb on the domestic and export markets must be maintained in
addition to EU funding for generic promotion of lamb. There needs to be a worthwhile and transparent price
incentive for lambs from a Bord Bia Quality Assured farm.
Sheep Ireland is working hard on sheep breeding. It is very important we have a well-funded, focused and
practical sheep breeding improvement programme implemented for the benefit of sheep farmers and the
sector. It is essential this is closely linked in to the Knowledge Transfer Programme and Teagasc going
forward.
Tagging and EID
Regarding the latest discussions on imposing compulsory electronic tagging (EID) for all sheep, IFA has made
the views of sheep farmers very clear to Minister Coveney and the Department. The €2m costs involved for
sheep farmers are excessive and the derogation on lambs direct to slaughter must be maintained. In addition
the unique situation of hill sheep producers must be accommodated and Central Points of Recording must be
available to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy.
Chairman, in summary, IFA is requesting the support of this Committee for increased supports for the 34,000
sheep farmers in the sector. This is a very important sector and deserves its fair share.
Thank you for your support.
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Number of Sheep and Number of Flocks by County
December 2014
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