CLARE IFA Chairman Stephen Walsh said that in terms of local agriculture, dairy farmers are the ones most likely to be affected by President Trump’s introduction of a 20% tariff.
Of the tariffs in general, Mr Walsh said, “Obviously there will be a bit of an effect, but only time will tell what it will be. There’s the butter tariff, we’re not a big grain county so I’d assume the whiskey side won’t affect us too much, the butter side of it would be the concern.”
He said that Co-ops now need to protect the prices being paid to farmers, because many people are leaving dairy, due to the lure of better money for less challenging hours available elsewhere. “The volume of farmers in dairy is declining because of age. There aren’t enough younger people coming into the sector and if the price drops the Co-ops will be in trouble because there won’t be a quantity of milk. They’re going to have to keep the price up. I can’t see them reducing it too much with the amount of suppliers declining. I heard a figure that 80 farmers have left Kerry Co-op this year and only eight have come in. The big worry all along has been that they wouldn’t have capacity to handle all their milk, now the worry is will they be able to get enough milk. “
Mr Walsh said that Ireland provides a huge amount of American butter, and it remains to be seen how the tariff will impact. “How much of the affinity will the customer hold? Will 20% be enough of a tariff to dissuade them from continuing to buy it? They’re the big questions, we don’t know the answers.”
He says that processors are starting to realise that farmers need to be paid appropriately. “The penny is beginning to drop at this stage. Before they assumed they’d get all of the milk they wanted. The dairy farmers are all 60-plus, given them 15 years and they won’t be in business. The next generation will ask why they should be up at both ends of the day milking cows, seven days a week, 365 days a year, if I can go to a factory, maybe get a higher wage, where I only need to work five days a week and I’m guaranteed my wage.”
Ultimately there is a lot of uncertainty. “The American market was improving a lot in the last few years, it’s a market we don’t want to lose. The 20%, the farmers won’t be taking a 20% cut, so who takes it?”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.