FARMERS For Action says it fully supports the action taken by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) in protesting at the Dail on Tuesday.
Wiliam Taylor, from FFA, said: “Farmgate lamb prices in Southern Ireland, Northern Ireland and indeed across these islands have been and are abysmal. With many supermarket shelves already devoid of certain basic vegetables, fruit and even eggs, the message from farmers is simple – we can’t afford to feed you anymore at current farmgate prices!
“In the case of lamb prices it is not a question of farmers crying wolf, with rampant inflation inflicted on farmers. Many sheep farmers are part-time or have other enterprises and in recent times many have brought home their earnings (the forgotten subsidy) and put it into the farm along with CAP money, which is now worth half what it was 20 years ago due to inflation, and carried on. However, this equation is now so far adrift that a serious warning must go out to corporate food retailers, corporate food wholesalers and corporate food processors that many sheep farmers are set to leave the industry if farmgate prices don’t improve immediately to the true cost of production plus a margin inflation linked.”
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