IS THIS for real? That was my initial reaction to the recent publication of 'Food Harvest 2020', a vision for Irish Agriculture and Fisheries in 2020. Here we are with collapsing cattle and sheep herds, inability to reach our national milk quota in the last two years, record farm borrowing, lame duck banks, run-down soil fertility and being screwed by retail multiples. Yet the brains of the country, or, let me rephrase this, a committee of 30 agri leaders who produced the Food Harvest 2020 report, suggest that Ireland's agri and fish farmers can turn this runaway truck around and deliver a 33pc jump in food exports by 2020. And this is to be achieved while saddled by an ever increasing green agenda. Dream on.

But let's not be negative. Let's buy into the very worthwhile ambition of enabling Irish farming to realise its wealth creating potential. This would be good for farmers. Equally the overall economy would benefit. Also let us recognise the inherent merit in planning; failing to plan is planning to fail, and all that.

And fair dues to the Minister for Agriculture and even the Taoiseach. They have taken ownership of this ambitious plan with Minister Smith personally chairing the industry wide committee that will drive it forward. Continued

Meath engineering firm, Dromone Engineering, has unveiled a new design of pick-up hitch for tractors, adding to its already extensive range of hitches supplied to both tractor manufacturers and farmer users. The 'Roller-Hitch' design is a departure from traditional units that employ lift rods attached to the tractor's three-point linkage top arms to lower and raise the hitch in hooking up to a trailer. The new design had to meet several criteria. Firstly, it had to be link-less (no lift rods), visible from the driver's seat when hooking up, have effective ground clearance, be capable of meeting lifting requirements and, of course, be reliable. This is achieved by using an integrated double-acting ram, heavy-duty chains similar to a forklift mast and a sliding cartridge mechanism. As the hitch's hydraulic ram moves the cartridge mechanism outwards, it is guided in a slot at the hinge point of the hitch, keeping the cartridge captive. At the hook end of the cartridge, the heavy-duty chains on each side of the hitch are guided over two rollers on each side, which are attached to the fixed part of the hitch bolted to the tractor and the cartridge hinge point. It is the rearwards (outwards) movement of the cartridge that feeds the chain out over the rollers and allows the hook or ball to be lowered and extended rearwards at the same time. In one motion, the hydraulic ram lowers and extends the hitch rearwards, ready to attach to a trailer or trailed implement. Excess Lifting capacity of the design is in the region of five tonnes, which is well in excess of the carrying capacity at the hook of around three tonnes. Continued

Town of Monaghan has followed Kerry's lead to set a milk price of 27c/l including VAT for March supplies. Further March price increases are expected from other co-ops later this week as international dairy markets continue to improve. As we went to press the Glanbia board was meeting, with some members speculating a lift from the 26c/l paid for February supplies was likely. The boards of Dairygold, Lakeland and Connacht Gold are due to meet in the coming days. However, the Irish Dairy Board (IDB) has decided against raising March returns for butter and skim milk powder (SMP). While demand for butter has improved over the past three months, the IDB has held its price at €2,600/t, while SMP has stayed at €2,000/t. IFA dairy chairman Kevin Kiersey has urged co-ops to commit to further lifts in milk price to at least 28c/l including VAT, before peak production begins in May. Continued

ICSA president Gabriel Gilmartin has said that the introduction of a carbon tax on agri diesel from May 1st will further cripple the agriculture sector and will increase the cost of food production in Ireland. "An increase in the price of agri diesel by an estimated 4.7c/l is an additional cost burden on farmers at a time when prices being returned from the market are already not covering the cost of production." "Farmers are already well placed to do their bit for climate change mitigation and are the only sector with a strategy around this without burdening them further with this draconian tax. Continued

IFA President, John Bryan met with the recently appointed Governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan to highlight the ongoing credit issues on farms and to outline the potential for the agriculture sector in Ireland’s economic recovery. Mr Bryan outlined the concerns of the farming sector and agri-food industry over the availability and costs of credit and emphasised that the banks must take a medium-term outlook in dealing with farming customers. Mr Bryan said “At today’s meeting, it was highlighted that Ireland’s recovery will be export driven, and the agri-food sector exports 85% of its produce. I very much appreciate the Governor’s understanding of the importance of agriculture in the economy and the role it can play in contributing to a sustainable economic recovery for Ireland. He concluded, “However, in order for agriculture to fulfil its potential, the banks must work closely with farmers to overcome short-term cash-flow difficulties, including loan restructuring, and support them in maintaining viable farm businesses. ”

If the name of Glanbia fails to register, its products certainly will. The mid-cap Irish food producer supplies the cream for Baileys Irish Cream, the mozzarella that tops Domino’s pizzas, and ingredients for the cheese found in McDonald’s and Burger King buns.

However, such tie-ups have done little to protect Glanbia from either severe falls in commodity prices or a sharp downturn in the Irish economy. First, the company has had little choice but to accept lower prices for the butter, cheese, whey and other milk-derived products that it sells through world wholesale markets. Second, it has suffered from domestic recession — partly from lower consumer spending on branded foods and tougher competition from sterling-based rivals, but more from the knock-on effects of lower milk prices on farm incomes. This has hampered its agribusiness division, which sells fertilisers and animal feeds. Continued

Attendants to this year's Irish Grassland Annual Dairy Conference will be able to hear keynote speaker, Alan Dukes outline his views for a successful Irish agricultural and dairy industry in the future.

The conference, to be held at Rochestown Park Hotel on Tuesday 12 January will deliver technical messages to commercial dairy farmers for the year ahead.

Four farming families will make presentations on the day, followed by a technical research/advisory paper to solve some of the questions posed by farmers.
Continued

Glanbia plc the international cheese and nutritional ingredients Group, has issued this 2009 full year pre-close trading statement. This statement has been prepared in accordance with the new segmental reporting announced at the 2009 half year results.
The Group expects to announce 2009 full year results in early March 2010 for the year ended 2 January, 2010.

The impact of the downturn in global dairy markets in the first half of the year, lower US cheese prices and a poor economic backdrop with weak consumer demand resulted in a difficult year in 2009. Strong cost management together with an excellent operational performance could not fully offset an unprecedented trading environment. The Group expects to report adjusted earnings per share of 30 to 31 cents for 2009, in line with revised adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full year which was announced on 30 April 2009. Continued