Farmers For Action Explain Farm Gate Prices

Committee member cereal farmer Ronnie Murphy explains the Farmers For Action view on Farm Gate Grain Prices

Farmers For Actions Steering Committee (FFA) have said current farm gate prices of £150-£160 per tonne for grain ex-field leave cereal farmers having to accept the same price level as 1990, which “is a totally intolerable situation.xa0 It is time for the truth about grain and oil seeds farm gate prices to be revealed.”

County Down cereal farmer and Steering Committee member Ronnie Murphy says that over time FFA have learned that the price of cereals around the world are controlled by a handful of huge world grain and oil seeds traders such as corporate US Cargill and are all connected back to the Chicago stock market.xa0

“Farmers are consistently told that the world market dictates the price of grain and oil seeds and this is all part of ‘free trade’.xa0 The truth is this is ‘corporate controlled free trade’.xa0

“During black Wednesday on the stock market when John Major was PM the price of grain rose briefly for a day, then we had the Ukraine war erupt and stopped Ukrainian exports for a short period and the price of grain rose for only a few months to around £300 per tonne and then down it went!

“Today, Ukraine does not export the same amount of grain and oil seeds that it used to due to the on-going war and war damage, yet the grain and oil seeds corporates managed to pull the price down to suit themselves.

“And in addition, back around 2010, when bio-fuel was being hailed as one of the great alternatives to fossil fuel, quite rightly, – the grain and oil seeds corporates were starting to lose control of the grain and oil seeds market of food vs fuel.

“They then started telling Governments around the world to cool-off on the bio-fuel use of grains and oil seeds claiming that it would put up the price of food… and worse still were listened to!”

Ronnie Murphy added that: “Clearly claims that the only way to break this armlock that grain and oil seeds farmers across the world find themselves in, is for either the Northern Ireland Farm Welfare Bill to pass through Stormont successfully or a UK-wide Farm Welfare Bill to pass through Westminster, setting a precedent.xa0

“If this was the case, eg barley, wheat and oats should be around £500 per tonne, making it time for the world’s huge corporate fossil fuel companies and the Cargill’s of this world that control the price of grain and oil seeds to legally be brought to heel and start considering their children and their grand-children heading into accelerated climate change rather than their balance sheet.xa0

“In short, if farmers across these islands and across the world were getting properly paid at the farm gate they could produce the food and a huge chunk of the fossil-free fuel the world needs.”