Farmers For Action (FFA) stated that research undertaken by the Andersons Centre on behalf of the Prince’s Countryside Fund discovered that one in five family farms are making a profit from their farming activity.
According to the FFA, this means that at least four out of five of family farmers are making a loss and “cannot afford to feed us” anymore.
Sean McAuley from FFA said:
“This explains why around 60% of NI family farmers are part-time, and with the government farm support money only worth 50% of what it was 24 years ago.
“Farm input inflation is at an all time high. The wet weather since last July is having a huge detrimental effect on spring planting and spring work, which leaves the farmers not in a good place financially.”
McAuley added that it is the FFA’s opinion that large banks have too much control over Northern Ireland family farms who are not in a financial position to reverse this.
The debt collection visits to farms has been increasing and it is now that these farm leaders and its organisations should be lending their support the NI Farm Welfare Bill, Mr. McAuley said.
This would see all farmers being paid a true cost of production plus a margin inflation for their farm produce, while also setting an example to other regions of how “things should be done”, he said.
FFA protest in London
Representatives from FFA in Northern Ireland travelled to London on Monday, March 25 to support Save British Farming in a tractor protest.
The FFA stated that it is time for a legislation on farm gate prices for farmers to receive a minimum of the “true cost” of production plus a margin for their produce, if they want farmers to deliver on sustainable food security and climate change.
The London protest was claimed to be “a huge success” in making the point that UK farmers, along with European farmers, have had enough.
