That relations between the farmers and the Department of Agriculture have hit a new low - mostly because of rows over headage payments - became even more evident this week. Tom Parlon, who is fighting it out over the next two weeks with Michael Slattery to replace John Donnelly as president of the 85,000-strong IFA, remarked on RTE radio's Tonight With Vincent Browne that one of his achievements was the invasion by sheep of the Department's headquarters in Kildare Street not long ago. Parlon then joked that he had since learned that one of the sheep was hired by the Department and was now in charge of headage. A couple of days later an IFA delegation arrived at Agriculture House to meet Department officials. They were no sooner seated than they were presented with a transcript of the show, with the bit about the sheep working in the Department highlighted. The officials said: "We assume you don't subscribe to these comments," or words to that effect. The farmers didn't know whether to laugh or blush.