IFA Meets Teagasc on Progress Regarding IFA Proposals on Measurement of Dairy Farmers' Own Labour

IRELAND - Last week, IFA Deputy President Richard Kennedy, IFA’s representative on the board of Teagasc, led a delegation from the Dairy and Liquid Milk IFA Committees and Fresh Milk Producers in a an update meeting to review the significant work carried out by Teagasc in response to IFA’s 2016 proposals for an add-on to the National Farm Survey aimed at measuring the actual cost of dairy farmers’ own-labour.
calendar icon 8 May 2017
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Mr Kennedy said this exercise, at an advanced stage for dairy farmers, also needs in time to be extended to farmers in other sectors.

“Farmers get very frustrated when their production costs are published each year as part of the Teagasc National Farm Survey, that their own labour is quite literally not given any value. Quite apart from understating farmers’ production costs, at a time when labour shortages on dairy farms are getting more problematic, this is sending the wrong message to potential young successors and new entrants,” Mr Kennedy said.

“This is why early last year, the IFA National Dairy, Liquid Milk Committees and Fresh Milk Producers came together to make some specific proposals to Teagasc as to how this might be corrected in a robust, add-on to the National Farm Survey,” he added.

“Today’s meeting was about getting an update on the significant amount of work Teagasc have carried out since then in response to our submission, which I am hopeful will be reflected in the publication of the 2016 National Farm Survey later this year,” Mr Kennedy concluded.

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