I move:—
"That a sum not exceeding £10,845,160 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1962, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture, including certain Services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain subsidies and sundry Grants-in-Aid."
The total net estimate for 1961/62 at £16,145,160 shows an increase of £3,894,360 over the original figure for 1960/61. The Supplementary Estimate of £4,647,360 granted by the Dáil for 1960/61, however, raised the total net provision for that year to £16,897,710, which is about three-quarters of a million pounds above the net provision sought for 1961/62.
The increase in the Estimate for 1961/62 compared with the original Estimate for 1960/61 is accounted for mainly by increased provision for the following services: Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme (Subhead K 11): Lime and Fertilisers Subsidies (Subhead K 8); Marketing of Dairy Produce (Subhead N); Farm Buildings and Water Supplies Scheme (Subhead K 6); Land Project (Subhead K 7); Losses on Disposal of Wheat (Subhead K 15); An Foras Talúntais (Subhead I 5).
I have circulated to Deputies a memorandum entitled "Notes on the Main Activities of the Department" which gives a great deal of detailed information on the operations of my Department and, on various trade and economic matters with which it is concerned.
Despite variable weather conditions and a difficult wheat harvest, the year 1960 showed a further increase in the value and volume of agricultural output. The value of gross agricultural output for that year is estimated at approximately £195 million, that is, £13½ million above the 1959 figure, if stock changes are left out of the reckoning; or £2 million above the 1959 figure if stock changes are taken into account. This welcome improvement in output was contributed to both by the increases in guaranteed prices for milk and pigs which came into effect in the spring of 1960, and by increasing agricultural productivity which is being substantially assisted by the Fertilisers Subsidies, the Land Project, the Farm Buildings and Water Supplies Scheme and other projects, as well, of course, as by the steadily expanding advisory services of the County Committees of Agriculture.
Agricultural exports in 1960, including products whose content is mainly agricultural, were valued at £89 million, which is an all-time record and £11 million above the 1959 figure. It is interesting to note that our second-largest export market in 1960 was the U.S.A., which took £8½ million worth of our agricultural products — mainly meat — as compared with £71¾ million worth imported by Britain and the Six Counties. All other countries combined imported from this country agricultural products to the value of about £9 million.
Trends in production and exports during the past year have been encouraging, but this does not mean that there are no serious problems confronting our agriculture. One of our problems — and it is by no means confined to this country — is the maintenance of a reasonable measure of price stability in the face of constantly fluctuating export markets. This country exports a bigger percentage of its agricultural output than does any other European country except Denmark, and access to export markets on reasonable terms is, therefore, of very special importance to us. The Trade Agreements with Britain, of which the latest was negotiated in 1960, are the main basis of our agricultural trade. They give us duty-free access to the British market for most of our products, and in some cases a preference over non-Commonwealth countries, and they link the price of our store cattle and sheep fattened in Britain with the guaranteed prices for British bred animals. These trade arrangements are valuable, and they are balanced on our side by the import preferences granted to products of British origin. It is, of course, true that, in our opinion, the high level of price support granted by the British Government to their farmers has had some eroding effect, apart from store cattle, on our position in the British market, particularly in the case of pigs, eggs and milk products. But this is just one example of marketing difficulties which have been brought about all over the world by the policies followed by most Governments, especially the Governments of the stronger industrial countries, in protecting and expanding their agriculture. These trends naturally cause great anxiety on the part of smaller countries which depend largely on the export of agricultural products for their livelihood. Better international collaboration appears to be necessary if this serious problem is to be effectively tackled.
Since the House has recently had a full discussion on developments in relation to the organisation of European trade and economic affairs and the Government's attitude in this regard has been made clear, it is scarcely necessary for me in this statement to reopen the subject in any detailed way. I shall therefore confine myself at this stage to saying that it would certainly appear to be a very useful thing if nations collaborated in devising a really fair and mutually beneficial system of trade in agricultural products which would eliminate the major price fluctuations that have become such a chronic feature of this trade in recent years and do away with the many irritating devices which at present obstruct the free flow of agricultural products internationally and thereby cause serious difficulties for agricultural countries such as Ireland.
Coming now to more detailed aspects of our agricultural policy, I should like, first, to mention the very considerable progress made in the past year with the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme, as a result of which about 80 per cent, of the store cattle so far exported this year have been attested and thus qualified in full for the British Price guarantee. Last December, we declared the first attested area, namely, Counties Sligo, Mayo and Donegal, and a few months later we added Counties Clare. Galway, Leitrim and Roscommon. These seven counties contain approximately 25 per cent. of the total cattle in the country. We expect that Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Longford can be declared attested before the end of the present month. Last April we declared a new clearance area consisting of Counties Meath, Westmeath, Kildare, Louth, Offaly and West Wicklow, and it is intended to declare Counties Carlow, Wexford, Laois, and East Wicklow to be a clearance area on the 1st August of this year.
The present position, therefore, is that the whole country except for Dublin, Kilkenny and five Munster counties is either attested or in an advanced clearance area stage of development, or is just about to become a clearance area. Before the end of 1962, we have every hope that the Midlands clearance area and Counties Carlow, Wexford, Laois and East Wicklow will have been attested. In that event, apart from Dublin — which because of market and shipping factors is a special case — the only counties which would not then be attested would be Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny — that is the southern dairying area where particular problems exist in regard to eradication. Appreciating, as I do, the difficulties of making marked and rapid progress in this southern area, while we confine ourselves mainly to the removal of cow reactors, and at the same time having to face the fact that the situation in these counties has not yet developed to the stage where full clearance area measures can be applied, I decided recently to take what I might describe as a step in the direction of clearance measures. As already announced, my Department will, as from 1st October next, be prepared to purchase store reactors from herdowners who have earned a second re-test under the existing scheme by disposing of 50 per cent. of the cow reactors in their herds after the first retest. This new measure will, of course, be in addition to the existing arrangements for the disposal of cow reactors and the payment of a clear herd bonus in the southern area. My real ambition is to reach the full clearance area stage in the south as soon as possible. While I realise that the problem in this area is a serious and difficult one, I am not unhopeful that this new arrangement for the purchase of store reactors will bring nearer the time when, given the full co-operation of all concerned, full clearance area measures will be possible.
In County Dublin, also, from 1st October next my Department will purchase store reactors from farmers under certain conditions, provided they have already disposed of all their cow reactors under existing arrangements and undertake thereafter to purchase only stock which have passed the test.
On the general issue of bovine tuberculosis eradication, I think that there is hardly any other subject to which I and my officials have given such full and unremitting attention. I think that the progress made in the past year is striking and encouraging. At the same time, I recognise that a lot still remains to be done and that the whole process of eradication is necessarily a gradual, and even slow, business. The fullest co-operation by all interests concerned is vital if the pace of eradication is to be speeded up. We have, in fact, been given very good co-operation throughout the country, but it must be 100 per cent. in each and every area in order that we may reach our goal of attestation for the whole country at the earliest possible date. The net cost of the eradication scheme from its inception up to 31st March, 1961, was about £12½ million, and we are going to spend a further and very considerable sum in the future. I am, therefore, appealing for the highest possible standard of performance in every parish and townland in overcoming our remaining problems.
As to the market situation for cattle and beef, there has been a marked recession in prices in recent months, due to weakening of prices in Britain which set in at a time when one normally expects a seasonal increase. Many reasons have been advanced for this, such as increased marketings of cattle in Britain in an early grass season, increased imports of beef into Britain, competition from broilers, the effect of the recent hot weather on consumption and so on. No doubt, all those factors operated, but if one adds them all up I am still left with the strong impression that they are not sufficient, in comparison with previous years, to account for anything like the full extent to which prices have fallen in Britain in recent months. It looks, therefore, as if there may be a factor or influence of some other but more obscure nature operating in Britain which has had the effect of making the decline in prices mush steeper than most people could have expected.
All this is not to say that the long-term outlook for beef is not fundamentally sound. I believe that it is sound and that is why I am all the more anxious that, if there are any factors of an artificial nature operating to depress prices in Britain, they will be eliminated without further delay.
There have been some complaints about the numbers of cattle sent in here from the Six Counties on which the British deficiency payments have been made. Under the Trade Agreements with Britain, we have no right to interfere with this trade and we, of course, have full access to the British market for our cattle. While these imports must have some effect on our cattle economy, I do not think that on balance the effect could be as serious as some people contend and our net exports of cattle to the North are of course substantial. I must admit, however, that it does seem rather strange that a Six County beast can pass through the certification centre and qualify for the British deficiency payment in the North and can then be marketed in this part of the country.
Complaints have also been made about imports of broilers from the Six Counties. I shall deal with this rather different matter later in my speech.
As regards the pattern of our export trade in cattle and beef last year, a slight fall in the number of store cattle exported in 1960 as compared with 1959 was much more than compensated for by a big increase in exports of fat cattle and by a further appreciable increase in carcase beef exports. Exports of fat and store cattle in 1960 amounted to 537,000 head compared with 482,000 in 1959, and exports of carcase beef amounted to 944,000 cwt. in 1960 as against 695,000 cwt. in 1959. Cattle slaughterings at meat export premises have steadily increased from a figure of about 180,000 in 1955 and 1956 to about 320,000 in 1959 and 380,000 in 1960. In the first quarter of 1961, slaughterings were about 112,000 cattle as compared with 104,000 in the first quarter of 1960. Exports of both fat and store cattle also increased appreciably in the first quarter of 1961 as compared with 1960.
On the breeding side, special attention continues to be given to progeny testing for milk and beef. I referred last year to the arrangements in operation for the progeny testing for milk of the dairy bulls at A.I. stations, and I also expressed the hope that an integrated milk-recording scheme could be introduced fairly soon. It has been a disappointment to me that the task of getting the agreement of all the interests concerned to an integrated recording scheme, available to all farmers, has been a more protracted one than I had anticipated. It is vital that such a scheme be introduced, and I am glad to say that definite progress is now being made towards this end.
As regards beef, a number of calves, the progeny of Shorthorn and Friesian bulls at the A.I. stations, have been weighed monthly up to the slaughter stage, and then graded and measured before and after slaughter in order to obtain as complete data as possible on their performance and quality. The aim is to assess fully under normal farm conditions the ability of the A.I. dairy bulls to produce thrifty highclass beef progeny. In the case of the beef breeds, some preliminary information on the weight-for-age performance of Hereford and Angus bulls has been obtained by weighings at the principal shows and sales, and this work will in future be extended to all approved shows and sales. The work will be done with mobile scales which will also be used for on-the-farm recording in pedigree herds.
I may mention here, too, in regard to the only remaining A.I. main station which is operated by my Department — that at Ballyhaise Agricultural School — that arrangements have recently been concluded for its replacement by a new station, now being established in County Cavan by a group of co-operative creamery societies in the north-eastern counties.
Sheep and lamb production, which was increasing steadily on a profitable basis for many years up to 1960, has shown signs of levelling off during the past year. This may have been partly the consequence of the unfavourable market conditions following the drought of 1959, but, while the position of the industry is basically sound, the export market is also becoming a more competitive one. Exports of both live sheep and lambs and carcase mutton and lamb were appreciably higher in 1960 than in 1959, but have been somewhat lower in the early months of 1961 than in the corresponding period of 1960.
Pig production has continued to increase during the past year and is now at a level which has not been reached since the early 1930s. Producers in general have greater confidence in the price assurance for quality bacon pigs, and standards are improving steadily.
In addition to the schemes of litter recording and progeny-testing already going ahead on the breeding side, an accredited pig herd scheme was introduced last autumn with the object of assessing the overall performance of breeding herds from which boars are selected. I am glad to say that the response by breeders to this scheme has been very satisfactory. These schemes for the quality improvement of pigs are of a technical and specialised nature, but they bring considerable benefits to the ordinary producer by way of the breeding stock supplied from pedigree herds.
As export marketing was discussed during the debates on the recent pigs and bacon legislation, I need not now refer to the position in detail. While conditions on the British bacon market were appreciably better during the first quarter of the present financial year, the general outlook is one of keen competition. Hence, the reorganised Pigs and Bacon Commission — which is to take up office on 1st August — will have no easy task to perform but I am sure that they will discharge it efficiently.
Our poultry and egg industry has been suffering for some years past from the effects of rapid expansion of British home production, which has developed to a growing extent in large low-cost units. The comparatively high level of support for British egg prices has been a factor in that development.
Improvement work in the quality of our poultry breeding stock is continuing to receive close attention by the Department and the possibilities of the broiler industry, especially for export, are being actively pursued. I would like to see a vigorous development of the broiler industry for export as such an industry, if it confines itself to the home market, cannot be expected to become a really significant one. Table poultry are not subsidised in Britain and the cost of feeding stuffs here is not unfavourable relatively to costs in Britain and the Six Counties. Such an industry should, therefore, be able to hold its own in the very competitive export market.
There has been some criticism of the imports of broilers from the Six Counties. We have an obligation under our Trade Agreements with Britain to admit such imports, and to tell the truth I cannot see any special reason why we should be afraid of these imports. I would prefer to see our people capturing export markets than complaining about moderate competition in the home market.
Before leaving the subject of poultry, I might mention that a significant trade in day-old chicks has been developing. The number exported was about 700,000 in 1960 compared with less than half that number in 1959.
Nineteen-sixty was one of the best milk years we have had. Weather conditions for milk production proved favourable, and there was a fairly substantial increase in exports of milk products compared with the previous year. A considerable proportion of these exports took place in the early months of 1961 and are, therefore, not reflected in the trade returns for 1960. The market position for milk products, especially butter, has not been an easy one, but, as milk is the keystone of our agriculture and we cannot have a really intensive agriculture without milk, it is the policy of the Government to ensure, as far as practicable, that producers receive a reasonably stable return. If this were not done, the violent fluctuations in prices in international markets could disrupt the dairying industry. It is for such reasons that the price of creamery milk has increased by 1.3d a gallon last year. I consider that the present price is a fair one though it is by no means inordinately high in relation to European prices generally.
Because it is obviously unwise to depend on one milk product — butter — we have taken positive steps to encourage greater diversification of production. I would like to say how pleased I am to record the establishment of milk powder factories at Mallow and Killeshandra and the cheese factories at Wexford and Limerick for the manufacture of these products for the export market. While making special reference to these projects because they have only come into the picture here recently, I would like also to pay tribute to the efforts made by some of our own creameries and manufacturers who took the initiative in the past in diverting milk from butter to other products, such as chocolate crumb, baby food and cheese.
With this increasing trend towards the production of milk products other than butter, the question of the standard of the milk and of the general level of dairy husbandry became more and more important. Special steps have been taken by my Department to provide closer co-operation between the creameries, the advisory services and the milk producers in relation to improvement of standards.
As the House is aware, An Bord Bainne was established on 17th May last. This Board has wide functions in relation to the diversion of milk to the most profitable uses and the orderly marketing of all our dairy products. It has not yet got into full operation. It takes time to find offices and staff and so forth, but I understand that these problems are being dealt with as expeditiously as possible. The Board have a difficult task before them but I am very hopeful that they will prove successful in tackling it.
The area under wheat in 1960 was almost 30 per cent. greater than in the previous year. As it seemed likely in July last that the quantity available for flour milling would be much more than the 300,000 tons which the flour millers would use for milling, a levy of 4/6d. a barrel on all wheat marketed was fixed after consultation with the interests concerned. However, due to prolonged bad weather, the quality of wheat turned out to be much worse than could have been anticipated and special arrangements were made to have the wheat taken up from the growers at the prices for millable wheat. The yield from the crop was well up to average but only a relatively small proportion could be included in the flour milling grist. I arranged to have independent tests carried out as to the extent to which the wheat could be included in the grist and as a result it was finally agreed with the flour millers that about 110,000 tons would be used for flour milling leaving a quantity of about 240,000 tons to be disposed of by An Bord Gráin either by export or by sale on the home market for animal feed. This quantity will have been disposed of well before the harvest. The State, of course, must underwrite the losses on disposal of this wheat.
The quality of the 1960 oats crop was affected by the weather and it was necessary to permit the import of limited quantities for racehorses and oatmeal milling. A cry went up that there was enough good quality oats at home to meet these requirements but a house to house effort to locate suitable oats failed to reveal its existence except in very small quantities, which were taken up.
Detailed statistics are not available so far in regard to the area under cereals this year but preliminary indications are that the area under wheat will be only very slightly less than last year; that the feeding barley will show an increase on last year; and that there will be a further decline in the oats acreage.
There has in recent years been a welcome upward trend in the production of feeding barley and about half the crop is retained on the farms where it is grown. Some growers who are primarily interested in feeding barley as a cash crop have asked that the guaranteed price of 38/- a barrel be increased. To them I would say that, while this might seem a simple kind of proposition it is in fact bristling with complications. Not only must the interests of the pig feeder be fully considered but barley marketing difficulties can be aggravated in a year such as 1960 or 1958 when a large quantity of unmillable wheat has had to be sold for feed. I am very much in favour of our growing a large quantity of feeding barley, which is a good feedingstuff and a useful and high yielding crop, but we should not close our eyes to the aspects I have just mentioned.
Land reclamation and drainage are proceedings at an active pace under the Land Project. Last year, despite the fact that the weather hampered the progress of work in the fields, over 118,000 acres were reclaimed or improved by farmers with the aid of grants. There is still a fairly substantial backlog of applications awaiting investigation in quite a few counties but the arrears are being steadily reduced as a result of the special measures which I initiated some time ago, and I have good reason to hope that during the coming year the waiting period between the date on which a farmer makes his application and the date he gets approval will be considerably reduced. As I periodically supply Deputies with statistics showing progress made with Land Reclamation it is not necessary now to go into the position in more detail.
An important development under the Farm Building Scheme was the substantial increase in piggery grants in February, 1961. The new grants are on a graduated scale and are weighted in favour of the small producer, but the raising of the maximum grant to £750 enables a useful contribution to be made also towards the cost of large-scale piggeries erected by farmers' co-operative organisations. The response to these increased grants has been highly satisfactory; applications received since February have been averaging 530 per month, as compared with 150 per month previously. The expectation now is that the cost of piggery grants will exceed £70,000 in the current year.
As announced in the Budget, grants for new cow byres and for the repair or improvement of farm buildings generally have been increased by 50 per cent. The new grants came into effect on the 1st June. It is estimated that the aggregate cost of these increases will be £185,000 in the current year.
In the long run the best way of assisting farmers is to help them to reduce their costs of production and to increase their productivity. The Fertiliser and Lime Subsidy Schemes have this end in view and the Government attaches very great importance to these schemes. Since the introduction of the Phosphate Subsidy Scheme almost three years ago the use of phosphatic fertilisers has increased by about one-third. But this is not enough. Most of our grassland is urgently in need of phosphates and cannot give satisfactory production until this need is satisfied. It is of vital importance that we should have a greatly expanded use of phosphatic fertilisers especially on our grasslands.
In emphasing the need for the use of more phosphates I would not like to be taken as under-estimating the other important elements of fertility — potash and nitrogen. The Potash Subsidy Scheme which I referred to in my speech last year came into effect on the 1st September last and since then subsidy of £4 per ton has been paid on 50 per cent. muriate of potash with adjustments for other grades. As an additional incentive towards the use of potash, in which so many of our soils are deficient, the recent Budget provided for a further increase of £1 per ton in the subsidy and this will take effect from the 1st September next. The use of this fertiliser has been increasing and with a higher subsidy I look forward to a further and substantial rise in consumption in the coming year. As farmers whose lands are adequately supplied with phosphates and potash can get further worthwhile increases through the use of nitrogen, I am happy to be able to say that there has also been an increase in the use of nitrogenous fertilisers, the prices of which have been showing a downward trend in recent years.
While there has been a pronounced increase in the use of phosphates, the use of ground limestone has been showing a downward trend in the past few years. This may have been due in some measure to the fact that phosphates have been cheapened as the result of subsidisation and that farmers have tended to spend money on them rather than on ground limestone. It has been suggested that the reduction in the transport subsidy on ground limestone may have contributed to the present position. In view of the importance of lime in relation to soil fertility the recent Budget provided for an increase in the subsidy so as to cover the full transport cost. I hope that as a result there will be a substantial increase in the use of lime.
Last year, I referred to the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. A contribution of $10,000 to this campaign was approved by the Dáil in a Supplementary Estimate which was voted during the financial year 1960/61. The campaign is relying largely on voluntary contributions and collections for its finances, and the Irish Red Cross Society have kindly agreed to organise a national collection in 1962 in aid of the campaign funds. This is a most deserving cause, aimed at lifting the living standards of the seriously underdeveloped countries, and I am grateful to the Irish Red Cross Society for their co-operation and help.
