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Macra na Feirme

Macra

Macra na Feirme is a voluntary organisation for rural young people between the ages of 17 and 35.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Feb 2025 · TB

Response to Long term vision for rural areas

9 Sept 2020

Macra na Feirme is proud to represent rural young people from farming and non-farming backgrounds. We feel it is important that rural areas are maintained and potentially improved, as they can enhance the lives of those living in rural areas. We have all experienced first-hand the effects of Covid-19 and in rural areas, this has been felt even stronger with isolation being a big worry for both old and young in rural areas. We believe that the main areas to keep in consideration is creating and maintaining the correct policy, the people who live in these areas, internet connectivity, low incomes and access to services. Policy - All current and future policies and strategies must foster the development of rural services, such as broadband, water, infrastructure etc, and not contribute to the detriment of these areas. Demographics - There is a passion amongst young people to work and live in rural Ireland but there are not necessarily the opportunities to allow this to happen. Connectivity - High-quality broadband is key to the development of business, access to education, working from home and numerous social activities. Low income - Income is often lowest in rural areas. The agricultural sector tends to have lower income levels and this can be a significant hurdle for investment, whether it be environmental sustainability and climate action, and for personal development and wellbeing. Access to services - There is typically a lower demand for services due to depopulation, basic services such as health and transport services are decreasing steadily in rural areas. Low population density is often a reason given for the failure to provide services and infrastructure however the lack of services and infrastructure are driving forces for that very depopulation, creating a negative feedback cycle. Policy should state a clear strategy to ensure consistency between governance levels, but also working well with all the necessary EU funds. There is a need for policy to reflect the requirements of small rural business, specifically in the areas of start-up aid business development and policy to diversify jobcentres across the country and away from being in urban areas. Rural Ireland remains centred around the agri-food industry. There is a need to recognise the dependence on farming in rural areas and the role this plays in the upstream effect on those living and operating businesses in rural areas in the EU. While agriculture and food processing have added greatly to the rural economy it is important that both the value and jobs created in this sector remain in rural areas. An objective of the Farm to Fork Strategy is for 100% broadband coverage in rural areas. The National Broadband Plan for Ireland was launched in 2012 which made the commitment to supply a minimum broadband speed of 30Mbps regardless of how rural or remote a home was. The Irish and other European authorities must ensure to adequately budget for, and invest in high-quality broadband. This broadband will allow for increased and improved e-commerce for entrepreneurs, including farmers, as well as for social interaction. Education can only be beneficial to those who receive it but unfortunately, there are often barriers to accessing it. Those in rural areas often have an additional barrier to access including travel and the lack of varieties amongst the courses that are available locally. For the sake of fairness all people, rural or urban must be given the opportunities for personal and continuous professional development to ensure that their quality of life is not impacted. For those involved in agriculture, continuous professional development should be a core component for the Common Agricultural Policy. In the attached document you will see these ideas, backed up and explored further.
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Meeting with Barry Andrews (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Sept 2020 · EU Trade

Meeting with Dermot Ryan (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan)

5 Dec 2018 · young farmers' issues in Ireland

Meeting with Phil Hogan (Commissioner)

27 Oct 2018 · Address Annual Conference

Response to Initiative to improve the Food Supply Chain

16 Aug 2017

INCEPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT-INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN Macra na Feirme as the voice of young Irish farmers welcomes the opportunity to engage with the European Commission Inception Impact Assessment aimed at improving the food supply chain. Farmers across all MS welcome steps toward improving their stance in the food supply chain. A farmer, regardless of age or nationality, is a price taker. Primary agriculture produce is unique to any other sector in that it is quickly perishable. For a farmer, the option to often store his or her produce and sell when ideal market conditions present themselves is in most cases not an option and in the rare circumstances where possible it is extremely costly hence having negative impacts on farm income. For example a dairy farmer, regardless of the most up to date milk storage facilities on farm is unable to store and wait for a better price for milk. Additionally for some enterprises, such as livestock and tillage, a farmer must plant their crop or breed their animals with the hope that come harvest or when the animal reaches slaughter weight, the price for their produce will be adequate enough to make a return on their investment. While forward selling is an option in the tillage sector, often farmers must invest in their business without any indicator of what their return might be. Both option one, of sustaining the status quo, and option two, providing EU non legislative guidelines for MS on how to tackle UTP, will not go far enough to resolve the problem. While producing guidelines for MS is a positive step, the non legislative bound nature of such guidelines would render MS the freedom to accept or reject the need for change. One of four EU freedoms, which Macra na Feirme supports, being the free movement of goods could act as a negative for attempts of non legislative guidelines attempts to conquer UTP. The cross border nature of business within the EU today could lead to multinational retailers and processors being able to bypass the laws set down in one country by exporting to a MS with more business favourable UTP laws and then importing products after processing. Both option three and option four provide for legislation to be produced. Option three aims to provide common EU wide legislation targeting protection of weaker members of the supply chain. The same laws being applicable to all MS would prevent any problems associated with UTP between MS however Macra na Feirme would caution the potential exists for problems surrounding the construction of legislation and appeasing the needs of all MS. Macra na Feirme would be in favour of option three being implemented on a defined pilot basis with the potential for option four to be introduced should MS decide that current legislation is not achieving a more balanced food supply chain. Improving transparency within the market place would act to complement all efforts toward improving UTP. As such, Macra na Feirme would be in favour of option two as the more data that is collected the greater the level of detail available to develop legislation for UTP. To conclude, while without the farmer as the supplier of primary goods an agricultural sector would not exist, they remain the weakest link in the food supply chain with the need for addressing unfair trading practices (UTP) very much warranted.
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Meeting with Phil Hogan (Commissioner)

16 Nov 2016 · Agri Facts