This article is from page 8 of the 2012-10-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
THE land will go quite in the Banner County next Tuesday as 6,500 Clare farmers down tools in an unprecedented strike day being organised by the IFA. The action is being organised to highlight the threats currently against the Single Farm Payment, the decreasing margins offered by super- markets and the loss of other government schemes for farmers. The Single Farm Payment currently bring in € 49 million to the Clare economy each year. This money is a vital lifeline for local communities as most of it is reinvested in the local community. “We are asking farmers not to let any produce off their farm on that day. This means that farmers would not go to the mart at that day, that milk would not to the creamery, that sort of thing,” said Andrew Dundas, Chairperson of the IFA in Clare. “This is easy enough for the 600 or so milk producers in Clare, because of the time of the year that’s in it, but the marts are in to their busiest time now. So it is probably harder on marts and the 6,000 suckler farmers to come on board. “This is about sending a message to government and the shops. There are marts scheduled to take place on that day so this is, unfortunately, going to inconvenience some people. “We have been getting a great response in Clare. Farmers see the necessity of it – we all know the importance of the Single Farm Payment. Very very few farmers in Clare would be able to farm without it. It is the pretty much the total income taken in by most farmers in Clare. “That money is spent in the local shop and is a very important aspect to farming in Clare and really all rural live in Clare.”