Shaping our future: animal health in a global trading environment

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Irish farming is facing a period of unprecedented change, in large part due to the increasing globalisation of agriculture. The challenges to Irish farming are substantial, given ongoing reductions in farm-gate returns to Irish farmers, as a consequence of increasing international competition, decreasing levels of subsidy support as a result of international (WTO) and EU-level decisions and a rapid increase in the relative cost of production of Irish product. Ireland is currently experiencing both the positive and negative effects of global trade in agricultural products. With increasing global competition, there is little doubt that Irish agricultural product must increasingly compete on the basis of quality, ... The long-term viability of Irish agriculture is dependent on the ability of industry to maximise on-farm profitability, and to effectively compete in a global trading environment. In terms of the latter, competitiveness is closely linked with cost and value. Although industry and key service providers have as yet mainly focused on efforts to reduce costs, Ireland cannot hope to match key competitors (such as Brazil) on price alone. Logically, therefore, product quality and safety will become increasingly important to the survival of Irish agriculture. Animal health is an important contributor to product quality and safety, in the context of the international competitiveness of Irish agricultural product, as a result of the impact (perceived or otherwise) of animal disease on product quality and because of the special importance of animal health in international trade. To remain viable in coming years, there seems to be little doubt that Irish agriculture will need to focus on one key issue, namely: needs to be done to maximise the international competitiveness of Irish agricultural product? This paper is based on a presentation to the Animal and Plant Health Annual Conference in Killenard on September 12, 2006. It seeks to address three related questions relevant to current challenges facing livestock production in Ireland, including: • Is Ireland achieving international best-practice in key areas of animal health? • If not, does it matter? • What can we learn from experiences elsewhere?