The extremely cold, but mainly dry weather, will continue through the rest of the week and over next weekend, across the whole country. There will be further severe or very severe frosts at night, and ice on untreated surfaces; some freezing fog patches possible too. Daytime temperatures will be in low single figures at best, despite some good sunshine, with frost and ice slow to clear, and at times persisting. Wednesday night will see temperatures plummet. Lowest temperatures will range minus 3 to minus 9 or even minus 10 degrees, with just light northerly breezes. Many areas dry, though some wintry showers will affect northwest and north fringes. Continued

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) has postponed its AGM and Annual Conference due to take place on Thursday 7th January in the Strand Hotel, Limerick. The recent unprecedented weather has left many roads impassable, and with further freezing conditions predicted over the coming days, the decision was taken to postpone the event. The AGM will now be rescheduled to take place on the 28th January and the Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith TD has been invited to attend.

Brazil has submitted a trade specific concern to the World Trade Organisation regarding what it believes is the unfair treatment of Brazilian meat exports to the EU. Brazil recently asked the EU to simplify the current system to make it more affordable and flexible for producers. These proposed changes to the Brazilian Cattle Traceability System were denied. Over the year, there have been increasing concerns regarding food safety. To restore public confidence, the American Meat Insitute has released information regarding the role of microbiological testing in ground beef. Continued

FORMER Gárda, farmer and father-of-two – there are many sides to Irish Farmers Association (IFA) President-elect John Bryan. But above all, Mr Bryan, 51, is a farmer. He started life on his family’s farm and now farms 230 acres of suckler beef at Cappagh, Inistioge in Co. Kilkenny. As a young man he gave up farming to train as a Gárda and spent three years stationed in Dublin from 1977. But he missed rural life and his time away from the land affected him, so after three years he packed up and came back to Kilkenny. With his wife Rena, Mr Bryan started farming in 1980 with just 89 acres of land and no stock. Twenty-five acres were part of the Bryans’ family farm and the other 64 was inherited from an aunt. The Bryans went on to have two children – James and Cathy – and build up their land and stock over the years. Continued

ICSA rural development chairman and president elect Gabriel Gilmartin has expressed extreme frustration that REPS 4 farmers still haven't received payment. "In some cases, farmers who have not even been told whether they have been accepted into REPS 4 are now being subjected to sudden on the spot inspections. It is not right to inspect someone when they still haven't been informed whether or not they are in the scheme." "The Department needs to put structures in place that will ensure farmers are paid on time and that queries are sorted out well in advance of payment dates. Continued

ICSA Connaught Ulster vice president John Barron has expressed alarm at proposed changes to the TB regime arising from the need to facilitate the slaughter of cattle that are over 12 months since their last TB test. "The new proposals to permit the slaughter of animals that are between 12-18 months since their last TB test is something we have been looking for. However, at a meeting with department officials, it has emerged that the proposed change is to be accompanied by a whole raft of new bureaucracy." "This includes complex assessments which categorise herds into those with less than 20% animals out of test and more than 20% animals out of test. There are severe penalties for any animal inadvertently sent for slaughter over 18 months since its last test. Continued

There was a sense of relief among farm organisations yesterday in the aftermath of a draconian budget that did not hit farming as hard as recent efforts. In his post Budget press briefing, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith was also in relatively upbeat mood. The fact that agriculture was spared harsh cuts was seen as an acknowledgement of the dreadful income crisis affecting the sector and the cuts to major schemes already inflicted in October 2008 and April 2009. The cloud over the Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme has been removed and it will be paid at the reduced €40 rate in 2010. It is a sign of the crisis in income that so many farmers have stayed loyal to the scheme, despite the payment rate being halved from its original €80 level. Continued

In an initial response to the Budget, IFA President Padraig Walshe stated that, at a time when farm income has fallen by 30%, the introduction of a Carbon Tax and the lack of clarity on adequate funding for a new REPS scheme must be addressed if farm incomes are not to be hit further in 2010. Commenting on the allocation for REPS, he stated “this is a vital support scheme for 60,000 farmers and the Minister for Agriculture must find within his budget adequate resources that delivers equivalent support to those farmers exiting REPS 3 in 2010. Continued

Budget Recognition That Further Cuts to Farming Are Not Sustainable The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) Malcolm Thompson has said that farmers will be relieved that the government has realised that further cuts to agriculture are not sustainable. “To date agriculture has taken an 18.5% cut in supports and any further reductions would have devastated the industry.” Mr Thompson particularly welcomed the fact that the government recognises that the new agri-environment scheme must have an allocation of at least €5,000 per farmer to be meaningful. Continued

The most important job that farmers should do in the month of December is to plan their cash flow for 2010. Addressing a meeting of the Teagasc Authority, Dr Tom Kelly, Teagasc financial specialist urged farmers to act now and plan their finances for 2010. He said: ”Farmers need to prepare a budget for the next twelve months detailing the main flows of cash into and out of the farm business. Profitability in all farm enterprises is low and 2009 has been a difficult income year for most farmers. All costs must be controlled including family living expenses and debt repayments. Continued