AIB to host event for Cork farmers with address by Foreign Affairs Minister Coveney

AIB IS holding an event for farmers which will focus on the Irish agricultural sector post-Brexit and the impact on trade so far.

Helen Carroll, presenter of RTÉ’s ‘Ear to the Ground’ will MC the event with speakers on the night including:

• Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and farmer Simon Coveney;
• CEO of Ornua, John Jordan and;
• Head of Agricultural at AIB, Donal Whelton with Head of SME Banking at AIB, Rachel Naughton

The virtual event kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday 7^th April and can be accessed by visiting the following website: https://zoom.us/j/92466124313.

The event is free to attend and there will be an opportunity to submit questions on the night.

In addition to the event which will look at the sector post-Brexit and what the future holds, AIB’s Cork agricultural advisor, Michael McCarthy says the outlook for the sector overall looks positive in 2021, assuming we get normalised weather patterns.

‘On the dairy side, reduced milk supplies across some of the larger EU producers, combined with strong import demand and retail sales, should boost milk price and margins further in 2021 despite some uplift in input expenditure,’ he said.

‘Tighter supplies and strong retail demand have kept the beef trade firm in recent weeks, while same, and the Easter and Ramadan festivals have been driving increased sheep prices in recent weeks, meaning increased margins are also likely on beef and sheep farms in 2021,’ he added.

‘Assuming a return to more normalised yields, and at least similar, even marginally improved prices as forecast, average margins on cereal farms should recover in 2021, albeit from a low base.

‘Pig prices have firmed and increased marginally in recent weeks after progressively declining through much of 2020, however, after recent high years of profitability, a return to more moderate profit margins in 2021 is likely.

‘Overall, at an aggregate level, the projected uplift in output prices should at least match any increase in input prices, which assuming a normalised weather year should result in a marginal uplift in average returns on many farms in 2021. The persistence of Covid-19, associated restrictive measures, and the speed at which vaccines can be rolled out, nationally and indeed internationally remain somewhat of an unknown, but we can but hope.’