2008 New Year Agricultural message from Jim Allister MEP
01 January 2008
“As 2007 demonstrates our agri-food sector is frequently subjected to the highs and lows of an unpredictable roller-coaster. Coping with the unpredictable is part of the challenge.
Having had a fantastic bounce in the milk sector in 2007 the challenge in the incoming year is to capture stability. As the Commission determines to end quotas in 2015, we must begin our preparations early and adjust as necessary. I believe this year Government should begin working with the industry to prepare for this sea change.
My biggest worry for 2008 is our intensive sector. Caught in the pincher of runaway feed prices, low returns and punitive costs from coping with effluent disposal requirements, we need urgent action. I will continue to press the EU to speed its GM procedures so as to open up to us cheaper options, but the mind set that the market can solve everything also needs to be tempered. The willingness, despite earlier resistance, to permit export refunds in the pigmeat sector was a welcome recognition of reality. Locally, government must act with urgency to resolve the crisis created by the refusal of promised funding to the Rose Energy project. This is vital for the poultry sector. Likewise, on farm and other schemes must be fast-tracked for our pig producers. By the end of 2008 derogations run out and will not be easily extended. We need action now.
The long-awaited clamp down on Brazilian beef exports – again evidence that persistence with Brussels pays off – must be used as a window of opportunity to rejuvenate the beef sector. If prices don’t improve, then everything foreseen in the Red Meat Task Force, and worse, will result. With much Brazilian beef out of the market we must retake the supermarket shelves and, importantly, the supermarket giants must respond to their responsibilities in guaranteeing a fair price. Farmers can’t go on producing at a loss. Just as 2007 was good for milk, so, I trust, 2008 will be good for our beef producers. They are long overdue a break.
As we go forward to meet the challenges of 2008 my pledge is to continue to fight tenaciously in Brussels on behalf of our farming interests. Persistence in 2007 paid off on Brazilian beef and on export refunds for pigmeat products; so in 2008 we have our targets, particularly for the intensive sector. We must succeed.
I wish everyone in the agri-food industry a happy and prosperous New Year.”
