Farming lobby needs to stop the poor mouth

I don’t know about you people out there but if this Indian Summer lasts much longer, I’ll have to relocate. We were having such a wonderful summer/autumn with plenty of that soft Irish rain interspersed with lashings of sunny days to create what could only be described as utopian conditions. I’ve met people from abroad who travelled to Ireland with their mackintoshes for the rain and the cool only to find the type of weather they could have enjoyed if they had stayed at home. They had opted to leave their shorts and t-shirts behind them only to find they had to buy suitable clothing here for the hot Irish weather. They would have looked silly in rain gear with the sun splitting the stones. There’s no doubt, it’s a rum world we live in.

I realise people here are hot-wired to complain about the weather but we really do have it good. Sure we get the odd, well more than odd really, passing shower and we also get the continuous downpour and we have farmers complaining that they can’t get any work done because their tractors are bogging in the fields. And sure enough they have a point, but. There is another point. If they did not have such big, beautiful John Deere/New Holland giants with built-in technology that could bring you to the moon then they might be able to negotiate fields that might be a little water-logged. The old reliable Massey Ferguson rarely, if ever, went bogging, unless, of course, it was on its way home after a day in the pub.

And, in any event, why do farmers bother? If one was to give any credence to the farmer representatives, be they spokespeople for sheep, cattle, pigs, dairying, tillage or horticulture, then farming is not viable and farmers are losing money hand over fist. It is a sorry picture these people paint, one that can’t endure. No section of society should be expected to work when doing so is simply costing them money. 

Farming representatives are well practiced in the art of preaching the poor mouth and it seems to me and many like me that they are doing a disservice to those they represent. The farmers I’m acquainted with are doing fine. They earn a few bob off their small holdings and hold down another job, full or part time, to supplement their income and enjoy a reasonable standard of living. I’m sure they don’t relish being painted as fools who lose money because of their farming activities.

Now, there could be farmers up the country that I am not acquainted with and who have two or three hundred acres and who don’t have enough savvy to make money out of their business. One could have sympathy for them were it not for the fact that there are government-backed schemes, such as forestry, that could earn them a nice income rather than having to fork out money in a loss-making enterprise.

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that the professional whingers of the IFA and the ICMSA should take a step back and interrogate whether or not they are doing justice to their members. I’m sure there are plenty of farmers out there who make money from their enterprises and reject the notion that they are fools, throwing good money after bad, by continuing to engage with a loss-making business. 

I hear farmers who have gone into growing organic food and who engage with local markets and who are positive about their future on the land. I hear others who have discovered that there are no earth worms in the soil because of years of slurry spreading and farming malpractices. They are changing the face of farming. They may not make a fortune out of the change but if they make a living then that might suffice.

The farming lobby has done well out of the poor mouth approach. Governments tend to listen when the IFA/ICMSA raise their voices. The taxpayers who foot the bill when farming is subsidised don’t begrudge the farming community when times are good but this can change. Land is a wonderful asset. If it is costing farmers’ money then perhaps it is time to change the ownership of land. 

The Government seems to be at a loss as to what to do with the €15 billion that Apple has been ordered to return to the country. They could use it to buy up these loss-making farms. The farmers should be delighted to get rid of the millstone around their necks and there would then be plenty of land for the houses that our growing population require. A win-win situation. The IFA and ICMSA would be left without a whinge but there would still be avenues open to them. They could run for the Dáil.

SUPER SIMON

It would appear there will be plenty of seats up for grabs whenever the dynamo Simon decides to go to the country. His status as Taoiseach grows every day and the longer he delays the demise of this Dáil the brighter grows the glow of his admirers. The longer he delays the announcement of the dissolution, the greater his chances of an overall majority. Even the members of his Party now see the sense of waiting until next March. The most recent polls show that it is not just Mary Lou and Sinn Féin who should be concerned but also the FFers. Simple Simon is showing a clean pair of heels to Mary Lou and to a lesser extent to Micheál Martin.

Now, as I’ve advised in the past, I don’t pay much heed to opinion polls. The latest poll (in The Irish Times) is at least two months, if not six months, ahead of an election being called. Much can and will change in the meantime. Simon Harris has had an incredibly good innings to date. Will it last? Can it last? He has robbed from Micheál Martin the title “safe pair of hands” and Micheál is getting a bit desperate. Why else would he make a case for SuperValu Páirc Uí Caoimh to be a venue for a number of Euro Championship games, having failed to get Casement Park over the line? It’s a suggestion that will go down well with the Boys from Fairhill but hardly a credible proposal from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence.

The big loser in the poll was Mary Lou and Sinn Féin. Mary Lou took the advice offered here some months ago to stand back and not be offering her tuppence worth on every issue under the sun. Unfortunately, in stepping back, her deputy Leader, Pearse Doherty came to the fore. Pearse is, no doubt, an excellent politician and a capable shadow Finance spokesman, but offering criticism on everything the government is doing, at a time when the country is doing well, if not booming, does not win many admirers. And besides, Pearse’s voice comes across as arrogant, strident and intolerant of other opinions. Not a good way to influence minds and win over people.

The big issues facing this country continue to be the problems of housing and health. Eoin Ó Broin (Housing) and David Cullinane (Health) are articulate, common-sense spokespeople and could be deployed to represent Sinn Féin and show a more sensible, more balanced and reasonable side of the party. There’s plenty of time, even if it is only two months to the election, for Sinn Féin to claw back some of the support lost (according to the polls!) to Fine Gael. Polls are one thing. Elections are quite a different beast and candidates count. Candidates win elections, not polls. Seventeen Fine Gael TDs have retired. Can all of them be replaced by successful Fine Gael candidates? A big conundrum.

More anon.

Thought for the day 

The greater the truth, the greater the libel.