Farm leader warns of ‘knee-jerk reactions’ to rise in deaths

The deaths of 30 people on farms last year may not signal a trend and knee-jerk reactions to the fatalities must be avoided, said Patrick Kent, president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association.

Addressing the organisation’s agm, Mr Kent called for a balanced debate on the issue of farm accidents. He said a proposal to cut EU farm payments when safety breaches were detected was a knee-jerk reaction and would do more harm than good.

“Mostly, safety shortcomings are due to genuine economic pressures. Cutting payments worsens rather than alleviates the position,” he said. “We need to understand that statistics can be misleading and can be mishandled. Thirty fatalities last year is a tragedy but it’s not necessarily a trend.When we are talking about individual fatalities, the numbers are just as likely to indicate random and unpredictable misfortune as to indicate any trend towards a specific cause and effect.”

Mr Kent noted that 10 of the 2014 fatalities involved farmers in their 70s and 80s. “Do we bring in mandatory retirement? Do we ask why farmers work so far beyond retirement age, in many cases without a successor?”

Many fatal accidents occurred when farmers were working alone and with inadequate equipment and facilities. “Do we ask why they can’t afford any better? It’s tempting to be seen to do something about the headline figures, but ignore the underlying realities.”

Mental health

Mr Kent said more education on farm safety, right down to primary school level, must be the key response. He also said the focus on farm accidents must not be allowed to detract from the fact that many more farmers were affected by physical and mental health issues.

Mr Kent said surprise farm inspections, delays in payments and unexpected traumas to cash flows were also causing immense suffering and stress. “And if truth be told, they may actually be causing more death and ill-health on farms than accidents.”

The ICSA president also welcomed the opening of the US market to Irish beef but asked if this would translate into better prices for farmers or merely line the pockets of beef barons.

“Not one kilo of Irish beef should be diverted to the US unless it’s at a better price than can be achieved in current markets,” he said. “Of course the bigger problem is that we just don’t know who makes what out of that kilo of beef.”

Mr Kent noted that Fine Gael's Phil Hogan was now the EU's agriculture commissioner. "There may never again be a better opportunity to deal with the retail rip-off, something that Fine Gael was very keen on in opposition."

He said farmers kept animals for two years, did all the work and got none of the profit. "Processors and retailers have the beef for two weeks and get all the profit. Year after year, Teagasc national farm survey statistics show that livestock farmers eat into their single payments to cover losses made in cattle farming systems. How is that fair?"

ICSA has called for a beef industry regulator who would have the power to audit the books of meat processors and supermarkets and report on where the profits went. “Below-cost selling should not be allowed unless the retailers can prove that the primary producer has not been asked to carry the can,” he said.