Current crop out of favour with farmers

FARMING VOTE:TRADING WAS lively at the Co Wexford Mart yesterday.

Tractors, 4x4s, cars and vans ferried livestock trailers to and from the Enniscorthy dealing point and many farmers arriving seeking bulls, calves and heifers said they were too busy to think about the election yet.

“I’ve had nobody at the door and I’m not reading the stuff in the post because I’ve enough to be doing,” said one man as he strode towards the sales ring. “I’m happy enough with things as they are.”

Ireland’s 115,000 farmers have reason to feel less downbeat than other sectors. The recovery of world food prices pushed their incomes up by some 46 per cent last year.

But polls suggest farmers are overwhelmingly in favour of a change, with 60 per cent of respondents to an Irish Farmers Journal poll saying they would vote Fine Gael, with Fianna Fáil a distant second on 19 per cent and Labour and Sinn Féin trailing on 5 per cent each.

Every party has identified farming as a sector that will drive recovery. But some questioned where the interest had come from. “Farming was effectively written off but it’s now being put up there as what can drive us back,” said Tom Doyle.

“That’s nice to a point but it is only two years ago they had that event at Farmleigh where they invited everyone who was supposed to be important in the country to discuss the economy. There was nobody with anything to do with agriculture invited.”

Mr Doyle, who farms on the outskirts of Gorey, said farm specific issues were of some concern, but national matters were more pressing.

Capital acquisition tax could make the transfer of land to younger generations a problem at a time when young people were coming back to the sector. “Income tax is going to be high, we all know that, but a form of taxation that is not related to income is a huge concern because of the volatility of farming,” he said. “Farming has had a good year, to an extent, but that’s after three very bad ones.”

Patrick Delaney from Foulksmills said he hoped a new government could reduce farm input costs. In past campaigns politicians would “have been nearly queuing to have a knock at you” but this time round just one canvasser had visited his farm.

“Fianna Fáil are probably keeping a low profile . . . but a majority government isn’t going to be a good thing either,” he said. “No matter who’s in I’d like to see a bit of compromise . . . because they’re going to have to answer to Brussels for everything with the bailout.”

He said scrutiny from Brussels was something farmers were used to. “I know they have their reasons,” Mr Delaney said, “but it’s an extra struggle and then if you’re checked and have left something out you’re treated like a criminal which I think there should be some leeway on.”

Despite being reasonably happy with his lot, Murt Doyle from Gorey agreed “red tape” was a huge issue. “There’s too much policing . . . keeping up records of stock sold, antibiotics, records of everything . . . I wouldn’t mind some of it being taken away.”