THIS Thursday evening, Stephen Canavan, from Ardskeaghbeg, Ballyglunin, completes his four-year term as Galway IFA Chairman, and admits, that while it was tougher than he expected, it was also very rewarding.

“I suppose there were a lot of major issues for the IFA at local, county and national level and I believe most farmers respect the importance of having an association that’s keep farming to the forefront of what’s going on in the present, but also what the future holds,” Stephen Canavan told the Farming Tribune.

Although such issues as emissions, derogations, Mercosur, Bord Bia and the new CAP are currently on top of most lists for farm representative organisations, four-years ago, Stephen recalls, that a far more basic matter dominated the agenda.

“Four-years back in 2022, the poor prices for cattle and sheep were the big talking point. Back then, it was really very difficult for livestock farmers to make a living – or sometimes to break even – given the prices that they were getting.

“Thankfully, over the past two-years, and especially over the past 12-months, there have been major lifts in the prices farmers get for their livestock. It has given them some chance of making a living from their enterprises,” he says.

However, given the recent sluggishness in the factory sheep trade, he believes that the ‘bigger players’ in this equation – namely the meat plants – must adopt a more responsible and long-term strategy in relation to prices and farmer confidence.

“We are looking at the future of a farming enterprise – sheep rearing – which is facing into a difficult long-term scenario and the meat plants must consider the importance of maintaining confidence in the sector.

“If young farmers decide to turn their back on sheep, because they’re not worth the return in the market-place, then the whole future of this way of farming life will be in doubt,” warns Stephen Canavan.

He adds that the importance of farming representatives being organised and focused – not just in Ireland but right across the EU – was highlighted in the ‘Enough is enough’ campaign which gained great traction at the beginning of 2024.

“This helped to highlight issues such as the CAP moving away from supporting food production to curbing farming output; Mercosur; over-complicated schemes; Nitrates restrictions; the Nature Restoration Law; and the Industrial Emissions Directive,” recalls Stephen Canavan.

One of the worrying national trends during his four-year term at the helm of Galway IFA was the increase in the level of bovine TB, both across herds in the county and nationally.

“Instead of a downward trend, we saw an increase from 3% to 5% in the incidence of TB in herds, which really was a matter of huge concern.

“There are though, at long last, some hopeful signs that this trend is being reversed and the roll-out of the TB Action Plan last September was a positive move and especially so in the context of the Wildlife Control Programme,” Stephen Canavan points out.

He doesn’t rule out future involvement in the IFA at some level and also actively encourages young farmers ‘to put on the jersey, join the association, and to get involved in a positive way in trying to improve and develop’ the Irish agricultural sector.

“We have to stay positive in all of this. Farming never was, and never will be, an easy game to be involved in. We must all try and do our bit to ensure that farming survives as a viable way of life in Ireland, not only for now, but also for the generations coming after us,” says Stephen Canavan.

He also expresses thanks to the many people across the county at all levels of the IFA from the Regional Office to the local branch officers and ordinary farmers on the ground, whose help and inputs, were ‘an invaluable help’ to him over the past four years and also to his family for their understanding during his term in office which regularly took him away from his home and farm.

Pictured: AT HOME WITH HIS FLOCK: Stephen Canavan getting ready for the lambing season at his farm in Ballyglunin, Corofin. PHOTO: JACINTA FAHY.