Watchback: Jim Bergin CEO at the launch of the River Slaney Project

At the launch of the Farming for Water: River Slaney Project, Jim Bergin spoke about the importance of the dairy industry to Ireland’s economy, the challenges that face the sector and the key asks from Tirlán to support it to retain Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation.

WATCH THE FULL ADDRESS HERE:

A transcript of Jim Bergin’s speech from that event is available below to read and watch back as a recording.

“Today, when we have another deluge of rain it is very difficult to talk about the future while farmers spend every hour battling against the elements but I wish to thank you for joining us today as we launch this multi-agency, collaborative, exemplar project which it is hoped will be the template for stabilizing and improving water quality across the country. It not alone addresses the issue of water quality, but also the retention of our nitrates derogation which will decide the viability of our farm families and the future economic welfare of rural Ireland.

We stand here in a county that experienced the worst effects of losing an industry, where in the blink of an eye we lost our sugar beet industry and ever since we have expressed nothing but regret. The whole heritage, the traditions, the scientific knowledge, the crop husbandry, the factories, the depots, even the trains, all blown away and forgotten. The loss of the nitrates derogation will have the same effect. Some commentators think that the derogation will result in a percentage reduction in our herd. They are wrong, it will be a much greater level of devastation. 50% of our milk suppliers in Tirlán have an average herd of 60 cows and does any rational person believe that they can survive without the derogation on 49 cows? We will lose swathes of our farm families as we move to large corporate farms.

My hope for this event  is that all of us will look back in five years’ time and say that today was the day when we began to make real inroads towards good  water quality and  away from losing our nitrates derogation. Good water quality is a fundamental need of every citizen while the loss of the derogation and the inevitable economic catastrophe that would befall rural Ireland would be a terrible legacy and indictment of all of us in this room if we permit it to happen before our very eyes. We should be very clear also and should proceed with the clear conviction that good water quality and the current level of farming in this region are not incompatible.

Dairy products from this tiny island are the Apple iPhone, the Microsoft Office, the Intel Chip, the Tesla of global dairy. They feed baby infants, provide nutrition to those in acute hospitals, nourish the ageing and infirm and they turbo charge many of the greatest athletes in the world. It is only a few short months ago that fresh Avonmore milk was shipped out to our wonderful rugby panel in France including our local gentle giant, Tadhg Furlong. Our dairy farmers are some of the greatest in the world and have delivered an incredible consistent economic foundation to this country while others came and went.

In 2022, the dairy industry in Ireland created over €17 billion of economic activity and underpinned 55,000 jobs. It is the jewel in the crown of Irish agriculture.  It also supplies 62% of the beef industry output each year and in 2022, the combination of dairy and meat cheques paid to Wexford farmers amounted to €365 million in a county of 163,000  people. 

However, as we stand here today we have a guillotine hanging over both industries through the potential loss of our derogation, in eighteen months’ time.  Therefore, together, across all relevant agencies and  all farm enterprises we must take control of our own destiny, we must address the underlying behaviours and deficiencies that are contributing to poor water quality in our rivers and we must challenge our Government through Minister MacConalogue and our new Taoiseach, Simon Harris to properly resource the ‘Marshal Plan’ that is required right here right now. 

To all those calling for a cull of the dairy herd, I specifically wish to note today  that based on Teagasc research, using the optimal N level on each farming system and based on optimal soil condition, farmers can reduce their nitrogen use substantially, have better economic performance and deliver good water status at a nitrates level of 220 kgs per hectare. This research proves that the issue of water quality is not a herd structure issue at 220 kgs, it is about implementing codes of best practice and ensuring adequate slurry storage to enable farmers to choose the best spreading conditions. We should never contemplate giving up one animal of our dairy herd, they are the economic lifeblood of rural Ireland and any suggestion to do so amounts to economic lunacy. For 31 years through the milk quota era our dairy farmers were capped at about 50% of their potential output and rural Ireland lost a massive economic engine as it struggled through phases of recession. Are we really prepared to go back there again?

It is also worth noting that based on the interdependencies between water quality, biodiversity and carbon emissions, fixing water quality has a major positive affect on all three factors.

At the beginning of 2023, it was abundantly clear to the team at Tirlán that tackling the improvement in water quality required a more intensive approach. While there had  been considerable effort by many great and passionate people through Dairy Sustainability Ireland and the ASSAP Programme the results were still trending in the wrong direction. 

We chose the Slaney River and just decided we were going to build a coalition and  do what it takes to clean up the water. Since then excellent work has been done by representatives from LAWPRO, Teagasc, the local county councils, ifac and Tirlán in order to;

• Carry out a root cause analysis on the primary sources of excess nitrogen
• Develop codes of best practice for dairy, beef and grain enterprises
• Assess the resources required to support all farmers on the most challenged catchments and 
• Create a tailored Farm Support Service  for those farmers on the most challenged sub-catchments. 

In addition to the ongoing ASSAP Programme, the Farm Support Package will provide advice on:

• Efficient nutrient use
• Improvement in herd productivity
• Addressing farmyard and infrastructure issues
• Providing information on Government and European funding programmes plus
• Financing and loan application advice from ifac

While we have shaped this new collaborative Project we are very clear that Minister McConalogue and Taoiseach, Simon Harris, a man from up the road in Wicklow, must provide the resources required to see this programme through for the whole Agri sector. The Taoiseach has committed to retaining the derogation and to have an environmental support package for farmers in six weeks.  I ask him therefore what is more immediate and important for our farmers as we work to stave off the guillotine of derogation loss.

Our asks are very clear:

• Since water quality has a dependency on a number of Government Departments, we are asking the Taoiseach to Chair a cross Government Task Force to address the derogation linked to the Biomethane Strategy.
• While we will support our dairy farmers, we are seeking €10 m a year for four years to put the boots on the ground to support other farming enterprises through Teagasc, for LAWPRO and the local authorities for additional scientific monitoring and for community support.
• We are asking Government to provide timely and further capital supports for farmers to increase their slurry holding capacity. This will provide them with the flexibility to spread slurry at optimal times during the year.
  • We have seen from other countries that the government will require our farmers to have almost double their current storage on farm in order to underpin a viable Biomethane strategy. Why wait to lose the derogation and then make a massive on-farm investment in slurry storage?
• Our farmers currently are suffering the worst ravages of climate change. Currently there is a Bill at second stage in the Dail which provides for the establishment of a fund known as the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund which can be used after 2026 to support state expenditure on certain environmental projects including water quality. Why wait to use this fund after 2026? We urge the Taoiseach to bring forward the use of this fund to 2024 and to save our derogation.
• Finally, on the basis that we are doing our stuff at home, we expect the Irish Government to use every mechanism in their power to ensure that the EU commission give us the time to prove our bona fides at 220 kgs. Anything less will be devastating and utter failure.

In conclusion, I wish to thank all those who have made this Slaney collaboration possible, Teagasc, LAWPRO, the County Councils of Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford and my own team at Tirlán.

I would urge everybody on the Slaney catchment to bring laser focus over the coming months to tackling the root causes of water quality deterioration, to adopt the recommended codes of practice and to address deficits in facilities so that we can maintain our economic and environmental sustainability and especially that we can maintain our way of life. Thank you.”

 

To find out more about the Farming for Water: River Slaney Project, please click here.

 

To download the Farming for Water: River Slaney Project brochure, please click here.

 

First Published 10 May 2024