Latest news with #DenisDrennan
Agriland
6 days ago
- Business
- Agriland
ICMSA president calls for ‘solidarity' among European dairy farmers
A call for 'solidarity' among European dairy farmers has been issued by the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), Denis Drennan, who is also on the executive committee of the European Milk Board (EMB). According to Denis Drennan farmers across Europe are facing the same challenges from increasing production costs, to tightening environmental regulations, and volatile milk prices regardless of where they farm. Drennan said extreme weather conditions during 2025, such as Storm Eowyn, highlight how 'vulnerable farmers are to factors beyond their control'. 'Difficulties in Ireland are not isolated. Whether in France, Germany, Lithuania or Spain farmers are facing rising production costs, fluctuating farm-gate prices, and a policy environment that often demands more while offering little in terms of fair market structures. 'In many regions, it is becoming increasingly clear that the survival of family farms – the backbone of our European agricultural model – is under severe threat,' Drennan added. Dairy farmers According to the ICMSA president this underlines why dairy farmers in Europe should show 'solidarity' to each other and why co-ordinated action at European level is 'essential'. He has highlighted the work of the EMB on promoting a 'comprehensive approach to sustainability' which encompasses 'economic, social and environmental pillars' to secure the future of dairy farming in Europe. According to Drennan dairy farmers need 'fair prices that cover production costs and proper market regulation that actively deals with destructive volatility and corporate margin-grabbing'. 'We desperately require political recognition of the strategic importance of family farms that must be placed at the centre of European agricultural policy. 'Recent examples, such as the successful implementation of voluntary production reduction schemes and national legislation prohibiting the purchase of foodstuffs below production cost, show that positive change is possible when the right instruments are employed. He believes that it does not matter whether it is a dairy farmer in the likes of Ireland, Denmark, Portugal or Poland – the fact remains that they need the same supports and measures in place to strengthen the economic foundation of dairy farming. According to Drennan this is 'a fair income, market transparency, and a viable future for the next generations of dairy farmers'.
Irish Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Heydon says EU's latest efforts to cut red tape of ‘limited benefit' to Irish farmers
Speaking at a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, he said that while the proposals address some concerns raised by Ireland and member states, their impact on Irish family farms may be marginal. He welcomed some changes, particularly to the performance clearance and amendment processes used by governments, which he said 'should go some way to ease the administrative burden for member states in relation to conditionality'. However, Mr Heydon expressed doubt over the relevance of some elements of the package for Irish farmers. 'A first impression of these proposals may be of limited direct benefit to Irish farmers,' he said. 'Our family farm structure means that while we have very few very large farms, we equally do not have a large number of very small farms. So the initiatives related to the small farmer scheme are of little benefit to Ireland. 'We need to ensure that the end result delivers some real reduction in the administrative burden for farmers and for member states.' In a later discussion on the EU's deforestation regulation (EUDR), which is due to come into effect next year, Mr Heydon said: 'There remains the potential for significant administrative burden… on primary producers in the beef and our dairy sectors.' He urged the Commission to explore simplified implementation approaches and supported calls to delay enforcement. 'Ireland therefore supports the calls for a further delay in implementation to allow time to address these issues.' ICMSA president Denis Drennan described the Commission's simplification proposals as 'unconvincing' and said the overall 'regulatory tide' shows no sign of easing. 'There's no real confidence in the Commission on this drive for simplification. We've seen and heard it all before and so far from the issues being simplified, they become steadily more cumbersome and complex year-on-year,' said Mr Drennan, who specified the EU Deforestation Regulations as a perfect example of 'talking' about simplification, while 'acting' to make things more complex. IFA president Francie Gorman highlighted last week that this is now the second corrective package on the CAP within a year. 'This fact should serve as a lesson for the future and shape our discussions. Farmers need policies that are coherent, consistent, meaningful and implementable, with greater farmer input throughout, but particularly in design stage,' he said. However, he warned that future simplification efforts must not undermine the common nature of the CAP or open the door to uncontrolled renationalisation. 'That would mark the end of CAP as we know it,' he said.
Agriland
22-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
ICMSA claims commission's Dublin briefing on Mercosur was ‘worse than useless'
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has strong criticised the outcome of a briefing to Irish farmers by the European Commission, held in Dublin, on the Mercosur trade deal describing it as 'worse than useless'. The president of ICMSA, Denis Drennan, said that 'whether deliberately or inadvertently' commission officials had not allowed adequate time to deal with the questions posed by ICMSA and others. He said farmer representatives had travelled to Dublin 'without the opportunity to even ask the vital questions- much less receive a detailed answer'. Drennan said: 'Farmers are the most sector within the EU that will be most impacted by Mercosur and because farming and agri generally play such a disproportionate role in Irish life there's a good argument for saying that Irish farmers would be the single most affected sector in the EU by the disaster that will be Mercosur. 'That being the case, we would have thought that the very least we are entitled to is sufficient time to ask and have answered the serious questions that the importance of the meeting absolutely merited'. European Commission representatives have not commented on the ICMSA's criticism. ICMSA According to the ICMSA president farmers received an 'unsatisfactory presentation that was over with without any opportunity to ask even the most basic questions that Irish farmers demand are answered' in relation to the briefing from European Commission representatives. The ICMSA has compiled a list of questions which it believes remained to be answered in relation to the Mercosur deal. Drennan said these include: How can the EU Commission guarantee that an animal did not get growth promoters? What are the sanctions for a country if growth promoters found? Does the EU Commission accept that the 'cattle traceability system in Mercosur countries is inferior' and how will it ensure that beef from only approved cattle will enter the EU food chain? How many staff will the EU Commission have at meat plants/on the ground to ensure the agreement is implemented correctly? In the EUDR, the EU Commission have implemented a complex system for EU farmers to comply with, will the same rules apply to Mercusor farmers and how will the EU Commission verify their data? If a steak arrives in the EU, how will the EU Commission know that it did not come from deforested areas? What are the labelling requirements for Mercosur beef and how will a consumer know if they are consuming it? The proposed €1 billion compensation fund – what is the funding source, is it from CAP or is it additional funding and how will it be triggered and how will the funding be distributed? The ICMSA president also said that European Commission officials should be in a position to answer questions on these issues and said that it believes the outcome of the Dublin briefing 'only serve to compound and increase farmer anxieties'.
Agriland
21-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
CAP merging proposals slammed as ‘creative accounting'
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has claimed that the European Commission's plans to change the structure of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and merge its funding pillars amounts to 'creative accounting'. Denis Drennan, the association's president, said he had 'little doubt' that the 'manoeuvre' was being employed to 'disguise an effective reduction in one or both funds'. 'The recent comments by commission officials that seemed to indicate a renewal of interest and concern around the security of the EU's food supply can now be discounted as the accountants and bean counters resume control ad overall direction,' Drennan said. 'We have [the] commission…telling everyone that they realise now the importance of funding the farming that feeds the population, while simultaneously and deliberately merging the two farmer and rural-related funds as a precursor to a grandiose announcement of the new total, as if the funding allocated had increased,' he added. 'The whole exercise is as transparent as it is cynical. Drennan said that the CAP is central to Irish and EU agriculture, and that CAP funding has been undermined in successive reforms. 'The EU has a decision to make, whether to protect its food production base that is central to EU food security through a dedicated budget, or abandon that funding system and allow the dismantling of its food production base,' the ICMSA president said. 'That's the choice and the government must clarify its position on this matter and declare it a red line, in the [EU budget] negotiations,' he added. CAP single fund The comments from the ICMSA come after farm organisation protests in Dublin and Brussels against the changes, which, it is understood, will be formally announced by the commission on July. A protest in Dublin yesterday (Tuesday, May 20) was organised by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS). The IFA has warned the commission against 'stripping away the CAP budget in favour of a single fund approach to the EU budget'. The president of ICOS, Edward Carr, has also stressed that CAP is the 'foundation of a sustainable and competitive farming and agri-food sector in Ireland and Europe'.
Agriland
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Agriland
ICMSA optimistic that TB meeting will result in ‘focus on farmers'
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has said that it is optimistic that yesterday's (Thursday, May 8) emergency meeting on TB will result in a 'focus on farmers'. The farm organisation described the meeting as a day of 'intense engagement'. ICMSA president Denis Drennan said that the focus on farmers is likely to become 'more refined and effective' through 'significant amendments' made to the proposals put forward by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Drennan said that the ICMSA has insisted that 'considerable changes' will have to be made to the new proposals if they were going to be effective and treat farmers fairly. The farm leader said that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon 'seemed to appreciate' this point. 'ICMSA has very serious concerns in relation to specific proposals and we had bilateral engagement with the minister and his officials on the detailed specifics. But we also highlighted several areas not included in the document that demonstrably will need to be addressed,' Drennan said. One of those areas, according to the ICSMA president, is 'the role of other 'players' in animal movements'. 'We also pointed to the impact of infrastructure projects and forestry and the obvious need for a single point of contact for farmers impacted by TB. Quite clearly, wildlife and animal movements play a role on TB and ICMSA is calling for specific time-based commitments on the wildlife issues. 'We insisted that the commitments and obligations on all players must be clearly spelt out and time-lined in the revised document and the science basis for the proposals clearly spelt out. The current document has very specific commitments and requirements for farmers to meet but for no one else,' Drennan said. He added: 'This point needs to be repeated; all players involved, from the department to vets, need to have their obligations and commitments specified and set down with agreed timelines for implementation. For too long, the burden of TB has been placed on farmers alone and this cannot continue.' According to Drennan, the minister undertook to revise the department's current set of proposals and to revert to farm organisations. 'ICMSA expects a speedy turnaround and the tabling of significantly amended, and improved, proposals that will allow the whole sector move forward on the basis of an agreed and proactive approach that will halt and then reverse the current surge of TB,' Drennan said.
