Producer organisations …the way forward?

Independent consultant and Horticulture Industry Forum (HIF) coordinator, Stiofán Nutty, introduces plans for producer organisations to underpin the future vision for amenity production in Ireland

Minister for Horticulture Andrew Doyle TD and HIF chairman Brian O’Reilly co-chaired a Full
Forum meeting of the HIF on 18th October. The meeting considered a new report compiled by the HIF, the horticulture industry’s vision report. The report sets out the current state of the industry, outlines the challenges facing it, and comes with 24 recommendations. The key strands of the report’s focus are greater grower collaboration; securing the required resources; exploiting market opportunities; advancing public policy initiatives to tackle below cost selling; labour shortages etc.

Many of the producers attending the meeting were surprised to learn that horticulture is the fourth largest agriculture sector with only beef, dairy, and pigs being bigger. In 2016, the estimated farmgate value of horticulture was €433m, which is significantly higher than that of sheep (€256m), cereals (€236m) or poultry (€157m).

After thorough discussion and consideration, the report was approved unanimously. The meeting allocated responsibility for the management of each of the four strands and the
leaders of each of the strands will report back regularly on progress to the governing committee. The recommendations in the vision report now form the work agenda of the HIF. The committee will coordinate and prioritise this work in the weeks and months ahead. Updates on progress will be provided to the next Full Forum meeting in the spring.

Given the fall in commercial grower numbers over recent years and the increasingly competitive nature of retail markets, the report highlights the need for much greater collaboration amongst growers to combat the power of the multiples and to exploit market opportunities. To support this, one of the recommendations is to establish a three-year Accelerator Induction Producer Organisation programme (AIPO). Such a programme would involve information sessions on how PO’s work and facilitate producers to embark on a staged process to join a PO. This ‘suck it and see’ approach would allow producers to experience what it is like to operate within a PO without having to commit fully to joining a PO. Producers would be free to leave the process but it is expected that many would choose, in time, to fully commit to a PO. POs have the potential to reduce input costs for producers and deliver more effective distribution and marketing of produce. This also means that producers have more time to concentrate on growing.

The report states that the supply of education and training to the industry is not sufficiently focused to meet the needs of existing or potential new commercial operators. The report recommends that delivery of commercial training should be concentrated in one centre.
Better resourced R & D is also viewed by the report as being crucial to future development of the industry.

A joint industry and government approach is recommended by the report to exploit existing and emerging new market opportunities. The report highlights the potential of the horticulture industry to collaborate with health practitioners to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables to boost public health and combat obesity. In addition, the report
identifies the potential for the amenity sector to also work with health professionals to promote the role of plants, flowers, and trees to improve mental health.

Major industry challenges such as below-cost selling, the current crisis in labour supply and succession planning have to be addressed according to the report. Finding effective
solutions to these issues will be a priority for HIF.

A number of Forum members were unable to attend the meeting due to the after-effects of Storm Ophelia. The horticulture industry has endured a number of economic storms over recent years. The vision report sets out how we now must work collaboratively together to first repair the damage to our industry and then move on to develop a vibrant, more prosperous horticulture industry in Ireland. ✽

STIOFÁN NUTTY has been involved in commercial horticulture for nearly 30 years. In that time he has built an expansive experience and knowledge base across the horticultural spectrum. He has owned and operated a nursery business, an award-winning garden centre, worked extensively in education and TV and was appointed as special advisor to the Minister for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sargent. In 2010 he was appointed as special advisor to the Minister for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage Ciaran Cuffe. Over the past four years, Stiofan has facilitated and moderated fourteen European and global conferences in Ireland, Brussels, and the UK. He was appointed as coordinator of the Horticulture Industry Forum.