SLURRY SPREADING RESTRICTION – ONE OF MANY FARCICAL RULES

While welcoming Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith’s decision to extend the slurry spreading period for REPS farmers until 15 October, IFA environment chairman Pat Farrell has called on the minister to accept that many flaws exist in the nitrates regulations which must be changed urgently.

Mr Farrell said, “The most nonsensical of these is the waste of taxpayers money when county council staff and the Department of Agriculture officials go onto farms and inspect the exact same nitrates regulations issues. Minister Smith gave a clear commitment in April this year that he had resolved this issue and that only his department would carry out these inspections. To-date this commitment remains undelivered”.

In addition, cereal farmers are also hampered by the requirements for green cover during the winter months. The scientific evidence shows that this green cover requirement provides no environmental benefit, once soil temperature drops below 10 degrees, which usually occurs from October on.

IFA will continue discussions with the department to reverse this measure, which is costing the grain farmers ten of millions of euro.

Pat Farrell said, “Despite the minister’s extension announcement, the weather is unlikely to improve sufficiently to allow farmers get all the slurry spread. Therefore, Minister Smith must immediately review the regulations to allow farmers spread slurry based on best soil conditions and crop-uptake, as opposed to the current farcical position where the right to spread depends on the day of the week or the month of the year”.

MINISTER SMITH IN PUSH BY EU MINISTERS TO REDUCE RED-TAPE FOR FARMERS

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith TD, said that he was working closely with his German colleague and a number of other EU agriculture ministers in a further push for urgent action to lessen the administrative burden on farmers from EU measures.

The group of ministers are urging the EU Agriculture Commissioner to use the opportunity presented by the revision of a key EU regulation to advance the simplification agenda.

The ministers said that this underlined his continuing efforts to further progress the simplification of procedures and controls in delivering the Single Payment Scheme and other measures and to build on the advances achieved during the CAP Health Check negotiations.

The minister said “this most recent concerted effort by like-minded member states to achieve further simplification of the CAP is very positive. The primary objective is to reduce red tape and the administrative burden on farmers thereby making the Single Payment Scheme more effective, efficient and simple”.

He recalled that “In April of this year 13 member states including Ireland, with the common goal of further simplification, presented to the Commission a list of 39 specific proposals for simplification of the CAP”.

The conclusions of the Council on 25th May this year contained an unambiguous commitment by the Council to continue the simplification process. Minister Smith pointed out that the Commission and member states had been requested to consider these proposals during the ongoing discussion of the implementing rules required following the CAP Health Check agreement.

The minister said “I welcome the fact that the commissioner responded positively to the proposals made by Ireland and others last April. I hope that she will now take this opportunity to ensure that the current revision of the single payment regulation takes full account of these proposals, and this is what the latest initiative is designed to achieve. I and my fellow ministers want the most rapid possible implementation of our simplification proposals”.

The minister stressed the importance of working closely with other member states on this issue.

“Ireland is at its most effective in the EU decision making process when we work closely with others who are of like mind on issues of concern to us. This underlines yet again the critical importance of keeping Ireland at the heart of the EU and not isolating ourselves. It is crucial that all Irish farmers and others keep this firmly in mind when voting in the Lisbon Treaty referendum”.

While being in the vanguard in promoting the Single Payment Scheme simplification agenda, Minister Smith recognised the need to ensure proper controls and accountability in the disbursement of taxpayers money - EU and national. The minister believed, that these requirements would in no way be compromised by adoption of the proposals put forward by Member States.

Minister Smith said “I will continue to press the simplification proposals further at EU level and I will continue to work closely with colleagues from other member states to this end”.

MAKE FARM SAFETY A PRIORITY

Farm safety has become a major issue on Irish farms, with 18 fatalities in 2006 and rising to 21 in 2008. A copy of the Safety Code was sent to every farm in early 2007 but to date a little over 40% have only been completed.

At a recent conference held in Athy, Mr Pat Griffin, senior inspector with the Health & Safety Authority, spoke on the urgent need for farmers to make their farms a safer place of work.

The HSA are carrying out random checks and will prosecute those who fail to implement proper safety measures. FRS Network have been servicing farmers for the past 25 years with hoofcare, freezebranding, milking, general farm work, scanning, plastic collection, calf dehorning.

We are now in a position to help farmers complete their Farm Safety Statement in order to prevent accidents on your farm and to avoid any financial penalties that may occur. For further details please contact Paudy on 087-2402710 or the office on 021-4613501.