BALLYCOLLA, Ireland – John Dwan of Tipperary represents the dilemma faced by sheep producers in Ireland. He does all he can to be viable, but without European Union subsidies, he admits he probably would have quit farming in 1999.
As he fed some of the prize-winning purebred Beclare sheep he brought to the Irish Plowing Championships last fall at Ballycolla, he explained he is a modern farmer by Irish standards.
He has expanded and diversified his farm, keeps on top of farm news and production methods, meets the required health and environmental standards, and even hires a private consultant to help him set targets and reach maximum efficiency.
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Yet in the late 1990s he was losing money.
He said it costs about 50 to 55 Irish pounds, or $90 to $100 (Cdn), to raise the animal.
“By 1998-99, I lost money, about a £10-£30 loss per animal.”
Dwan said the price drop was caused by a flood of cheap Russian lamb onto the market and an oversupply in Ireland.
EU subsidies helped him survive and continue farming. While prices have now risen to £80 per animal, he gets another £13-£14 per animal from the EU. He estimates about 90 percent of his income comes from EU subsidies.
Dwan, who farms with his wife Leysh, two teenaged sons and a daughter, said there are positive and negative sides to the dependence on subsidies.
His biggest complaint is the paperwork that increased after the mad cow disease crisis broke in 1996.
“I spend two or three days a week on it.”
The main purpose is animal traceability, which includes movement in and out of herds, keeping more detailed dairy records, and recording all medicines given to animals.
He is also subject to greater environmental regulations. Government inspectors do spot checks on farms that can last up to two hours.
“They look at our water quality, where the water is going, storage of wastes, the number of animals, everything.”
Violators can be fined £5,000 and are given two weeks to clean up the situation.
The latest frustration is identification tags for sheep.
“This does nothing for us. It creates more work. It would be better if they could trace back with DNA, and trace back to the meat factories. Now, when the head is off the lamb, they can’t tell (where problems originate.) With modern technology, we should be able to do more.”
Dwan and other sheep producers complain the tags cost about 20 pence each and many fall off.
While social pressures from Europe have led to many of the regulations, Dwan agrees with the EU’s social initiative to keep farmers on the land.
“What would the countryside be like without it? Without it, we wouldn’t have stayed in it (farming) either.”
He said the subsidies keep small towns and businesses alive and have allowed some of his neighbors to stay on the land.
“If they took away the subsidies now, we’d survive. We’d have a low income, but we’d keep the industry going.”
Dwan has positioned himself for the future. He has 350 Beclare purebred sheep, and another 300 halfbreeds that are Charollais or Suffolk crosses. The farm also has 55 Holstein dairy cattle for meeting his 45,000 gallon milk quota, and 60 cows and heifers that he finishes to 650-700 kilograms.
Besides pasture, he grows 40 acres of maize and barley on the 240 acres he owns and 150 acres he rents. The average farm in Ireland is 40 acres.
Dwan said he expanded his farm in 1999 because he needed the land and cheap water. He paid dearly. Within a year and a half, land prices had risen by 50 percent to £6,000-£7,000 per acre in his area because of better beef prices and competition from hobby farmers.
“There are a lot of conflicts with a booming economy. The hobby farmers can do well by working in the cities and farming (part-time).”
While in the past, many Irish farmers survived by raising only sheep, Dwan knew he couldn’t survive using the old farming methods.
“Lamb prices are about the same as 15 years ago, but costs are going through the roof. Our output has increased, and that’s the only way we’ve survived.”
Increased output is the result of bigger flocks and more lambs produced per ewe.
“And we try to keep the costs as low as we can.”
One of the ways to reduce costs is to limit the amount of machinery purchased. He owns two tractors and slurry spreading equipment. The rest of the work is contracted out.
Dwan said he believes in accessing the most up-to-date production information as possible, from farm newspapers, the internet, and books on farming. He is involved in discussion groups, and pays a private consultant £900 a year for three to four visits a year.
“We address low costs, water conditions, feed rations and prices, and what we should export.”
Targets are set for the farm’s different enterprises.
While being diversified helps the bottom line, Dwan said being involved in sheep, dairy and beef cattle also keeps him interested in farming.
“I like to focus on something new, and keep my interest up. Other enterprises help keep me involved.”
