Farmers ‘at the mercy of retailers’ hit by rising costs on all sides

Co Sligo farmer Trevor Boland says he is lucky that he and his wife have off-farm jobs because increased costs have wiped out the “already very tight margin” they were making out of the enterprise.

Boland, who has 100 cattle, says a problem for farmers is that “we are at the mercy of retailers and processors” and that no matter how high their input costs go, they cannot pass the increases on.

“The biggest issue is fertiliser – prices have gone through the roof,” he said. “One tonne cost €400 last year. This year it costs €900.”

For Boland, this means that his fertiliser bill has doubled to €26,000 in the space of just 12 months. With much of the fertiliser used in Ireland imported from eastern Europe, supply is also an issue and in particular for the most environmentally friendly varieties, which he says farmers are keen to use.

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“But the supply just isn’t there. And we keep hearing about our CO2 targets.”

Boland says that in addition to bearing the burden of an increase in these costs, farmers are also bracing themselves for reduced allocations under the EU Common Agricultural Policy next year.

“At the moment we are getting €4.50 for a kilo of beef. We need €5 to cover our costs,” he said.

He said that when farmers go to do their weekly grocery shop, they are facing the same price increases as everyone else. “And the local shops, which farmers want to support, can’t compete with the big supermarkets.”

The threat to farming is far-reaching, the father of one believes, as agriculture is crucial to the rural economy.

“If people can’t continue farming, they will be driven into the towns and cities and then the local shops suffer and schools will close.”

Boland, who also works as an accountant, has no intention of leaving Dromard or the family farm where he lives with his wife Tara and their seven-week-old baby Nollaig. But he says that as costs keep rising, farmers will struggle to keep going.

He says signs of rural depopulation are already evident, with the local GAA clubs St Patrick’s and Enniscrone having to join forces to field underage teams.

The Boland family live in Dromard, on the main N59 Sligo to Ballina road, not far from the home of Tom Niland (73), who is fighting for his life after being attacked during a burglary on January 18th.

While some people marvelled at how a gang could brazenly force their way into a house on a national road at 7pm in the evening, Boland says depopulation means there is hardly any traffic there at that time.

“The shops are closed at eight in the evening, there is no pub open during the week. I could nearly drive out onto that road at that time without looking left or right because there would be no traffic.”