‘We can’t keep going the way it’s going’

Protest over spiralling fuel costs

The noticeable rise in recent weeks in the cost of fuel due to the conflict in the Middle East has had a major impact on the local agricultural community.

The situation has led to increasing concerns on how rising cost on fuel is going to affect the work of contractors going forward, which would be expected to also have an impact on farmers across Ireland.

Last Tuesday, April 7, a nationwide protest began across the country as contractors, farmers and hauliers took to the roads of Ireland to highlight their dissatisfaction with the increase in the cost of fuel.

This protest was organised by a group called ‘The People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices’, which was made up of contractors and hauliers from across the country, including Nenagh, who took part in this national protest after joining a WhatsApp group.

“We can’t keep going the way it’s going, diesel is too dear and we are only going to end up running ourselves into the ground. We are probably working at a loss at the minute, and they say pass [the extra cost] onto farmers, but there is only so much you can pass on, they are being crippled with other bills,” stated Kelum Harrington, North Tipperary contractor, who took part in the protest.

Increased Costs to Farmers

Even though it has been widely stated that Ireland is only at the beginning of this fuel crisis, the increase in the price of fuel is already being noticed by tillage farmer and agricultural contractor Eamon Gaynor, who took part in the protest on Tuesday:

“My tractors hold 400 litres…it was costing €400 to fill them, now it’s costing €680,” he stated.

“When we are at tillage or silage, I’d empty them in a day,” he continued, highlighting how there would be more than one tractor used in a day on most farms.

“If I sow my spring crops now, I’m probably going to burn 10,000 litres in the next two-three weeks. I’m not going to see that money back until the earliest next November” explained Eamon.

“It’s serious, what’s going on,” he continued, stating that he was “fierce worried” about the rise in the cost of fuel.

“Blatantly unsustainable at the moment”

North Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD, Deputy Ryan O’Meara highlighted the concerns of farmers and contractors from North Tipperary due to the rise in the cost of fuel:

“The current prices facing farmers and contractors are unsustainable. Tillage farmers are being hammered with prices and as we face into silage season, contractors will have no option but to considerably increase their prices charged to farmers.

On an individual farm level, I am being contacted by farming families on a daily basis who simply let the numbers speak for themselves. It is blatantly unsustainable at the moment,” expressed Deputy O’Meara.

This sentiment was echoed by dairy farmer and chair of agriculture affairs with the North Tipperary branch of Macra Na Feirme, Sean Kelly.

Sean Kelly highlighted his concerns for how the rise in the cost of fuel is already having a noticeable impact on farmers and contractors in North Tipperary:

“The price in production…its going up at alarming rate and unfortunately, its eating very heavily [into margins] and it’s rising the price of production. Its hard to even know at the minute what our price of production is... fuel, fertiliser, everything is changing nearly on a daily basis now as opposed to a weekly basis,” expressed Sean Kelly.

Over a week ago, the government responded to the increased cost of fuel for the agricultural community by cutting the cost of green diesel by 3c per litre:

“3 cent a litre, it’s a crumb to a starving man,” commented Sean Kelly, on how the government’s cut of 3 cent a litre to green diesel has impacted farmers dealing with the rising cost of fuel.

Agricultural Contractors

Alongside farming, Eamon Gaynor also works as a contractor for other farms, and is becoming increasingly worried about how the price of fuel is going to affect his work going forward:

“I’m just going to have to pass it on to the farmer,” he explained when asked about how he could see the fuel crisis impacting his work over the coming months, not sounding pleased with idea.

“Someone is going to have to pay for [the extra diesel],” he continued, highlighting how it is going to put extra pressure on farmers.

“Normally, you would give farmers credit,” reflected Eamon highlighting how work would normally be done on farms with the understanding that you would be paid over the coming months.

“That’s not going to be the case now. Farmers are going to have to pay [contractors] to stay going to be able to buy diesel,” he explained.

The increase in costs for agricultural contractors will also have an impact on the work of farmers:

“They’ll definitely tighten their ship,” expressed Eamon, “they’ll cut back [on certain jobs].

However, farmers are very limited in what they can cut on farms in terms of fuel consumption.

“It’s a huge concern for every farmer. We know that the contractors can’t burden extra costs, unfortunately again, it’s going to fall on the farmer and it’s going to hit their price of production,” expressed Sean Kelly.

Increased cost of Fertiliser

Alongside the increased cost of fuel, the cost of fertiliser has also increased:

“Fertiliser prices are changing on a daily basis and its gong to eat hugely into the price of production,

“With the shortage of fertiliser and price hikes, farming is not going to be sustainable in the future. If things keep going the way they are going, farmers are going to be under significant pressure,” expressed Sean Kelly as to how he feels the price of fuel is going to affect the agricultural community.

As explained by Laim Coffey, chairperson of the North Tipperary Branch of the Irish Farners Association, along with the cost of fuel, there has been a notable increase in the cost of fertiliser:

“The price of fertiliser, they are gone up over €400 a tonne from before, so that’s a big jump as well,” he explained.

“There seems to be enough fertiliser in the country till the end of June and after that

then they are not sure…there is enough for the first cut,” he continued.

Pointing out that it’s hard to judge what will happen next, Coffey explained that farmers will just have to conscious about how they utilise their supplies going forward:

“[Farmers} will just have to be careful now with the way they plan going forward and what fertiliser they do have, that its used efficiently and that they try and get a good first cut of silage,” expressed Liam Coffey.

“You aren’t seeing a huge amount of fertilizer in yards, you have to make the phone call and order what you want now, instead of driving down and just collecting fertiliser yourself,” expressed Liam, pointing out how thing have already begun to change on the ground.

“People just need to keep their ears to the ground and just watch what’s going on,” he continued, highlighting how farmers will just have to communicate with their suppliers at to what's happening with the supply of fertiliser.

Scarcity of Fuel

Due to the conflict in the middle east, there is also the increasing concern that there may be a fuel shortage in Ireland. Contractors and farmers from North Tipperary have already begun to worry about what this would mean for them going forward:

“If there is going to be a shortage of fuel, it’s a huge worry again. The rising prices is one thing, but the potential lack of availability is a huge concern as well,” expressed Sean Kelly.

“They are talking about a scarcity of diesel. What’s going to happen then?” questioned Eamon Gaynor, pointing out how the work on farms would still need to be done.

However, as pointed out by Liam Coffey, there has been a bit of suspected scare mongering going on online, and that it was still early days yet:

“That’s only scaremongering now, that’s not happening yet anyway. It could happen, nobody knows,” he commented.

Feared impact to consumers

“We don’t want food prices going up. For average people, food prices are already extremely high, the government need to step up here now. Farmers can’t be under a loss for price of production, we can’t produce food below the price that we are getting for it,” stated Sean Kelly, highlighting his concerns for how the rise in the cost of fuel could impact the price of food for consumers over the coming months.