The war in the Middle East is putting pressure on farmers in Ireland, Agriculture Minister, Martin Heydon TD, has warned.
“The conflict and the crisis in the Middle East, and the energy shock that that has provided, is having a very real impact on our farmers, on our fishers, on our farm contractors, food production and drink production companies across Ireland and across the EU”, said Martin Heydon this morning as he arrived in Luxembourg for a meeting of EU agricultural ministers.
“It highlights our vulnerability and the challenges we have around our dependency on fertiliser and fuel”, he warned.
Agri ministers are expected to discuss the issue as a matter of urgency today as Heydon warned of “really significant increase” in prices right now, and the risk of possible fertiliser shortages later in the year.
The EU council presidency, currently held by Cyrpus (Ireland will takeover the presidency in July), is also worried about the issue.
“We have seen the effects of the geopolitical situation on the cost production, on the rising cost production, on the prices of the fertilisers and the prices of the fossil fuels. So we want to ensure affordable access to key inputs for our farmers and especially fertilisers”, said the Cypriot farming minister, Maria Panayiotou.
The European Commission is due to publish a Fertiliser Action Plan next month.
For farmers, help cannot come soon enough.
“Those increased costs are a real concern now”, said Martin Heydon. “The risk of the impact of availability later in the year is also a very big concern for us. So this is a moment where we do need Europe to work together.”