The EU farm council meets in Dublin today as the deal on Cap reform moves closer to a conclusion. For Minister Simon Coveney, the next month will be the defining one of his tenure in the Department of Agriculture.

Farmers’ judgment of his time as Minister will be based on his ability to hammer out a final agreement that faces down the EU Commission and secures a deal that works for Irish farming and our economy.

Irish agriculture supports 300,000 jobs and €9 billion in exports, with realistic targets to increase both. However, the Cap proposals on the table are very damaging and will derail the Government's own Food Harvest 2020 plan.

Farmers, understandably, are preoccupied with the fodder crisis at the moment. If the extreme weather events of the last 12 months have shown us anything, it is the importance of the single farm payment for farm families. Without some shelter from the storm, their ability to meet household bills and keep their farms going would not have been possible.

Looking ahead to the medium term, the direction of the current Cap deal is threatening the long-term viability of many of their enterprises.

The IFA remains steadfastly opposed to any Cap reform that slices 20 per cent to 40 per cent from the single farm payment of our most productive farmers. This will undermine their livelihoods and will sink the growth plans under Food Harvest 2020 .

There is a grave danger that the push to reach a deal by the end of June will deliver an outcome that will be very damaging to Irish agriculture. Worryingly, commissioner Ciolos is clawing back much of what was set down at the March meeting of the ministers for agriculture.

If the commissioner were to get his way, we could be facing a new model of the single farm payment which would be hugely disruptive. It would see the introduction of a minimum payment and other measures such as flattening and regionalisation, all of which would be very negative for productive agriculture in this country. It would also undercut the approximation model put forward by the Irish presidency, and some of our most productive farmers would lose up to 45 per cent of the single farm payment.

Since last autumn, when the Minister went on a regional roadshow to promote his alternative to the commission, this model has been held up as a far more acceptable outcome for Irish farming. Having assured farmers that he would work towards this, and having got agreement in March, the Minister cannot fail at the final hurdle.

Following that meeting in March, Minister Coveney spoke about a “watershed” moment after the farm council accepted a package of measures tabled by the Irish presidency. Mr Coveney said he “was particularly pleased to note his colleagues’ agreement to the principle of flexibility in the way in which direct payments are to be distributed within member states”.

Opportunity
Maintaining that element of flexibility will be crucial to achieving the best result for Ireland. The IFA's position is clear: the total losses for active, productive farmers must be minimised and extended out over the longest timeframe.

The IFA believes that the redistribution must be targeted at new entrants, and through objective criteria such as stock- ing rates, to support active farmers who have low payments. A model that pays out without any regard to production levels cannot be justified.

The “trilogue” discussions since March, which involve negotiations between the council, the commission and the parliament, have taken a very disturbing direction. In effect, the commission is attempting to ignore the decisions reached at the March meeting, and is seeking to override the agreement reached by democratically-elected ministers.

While the input of the European Parliament is important, the trilogue process must be questioned. It has allowed the commission to work in the background and seek to push through its own proposals against the democratic will.

At this week's meeting in Dublin, and at the European Council in June, there is an opportunity for both the Taoiseach and the Minister to reassert themselves and insist on a Common Agricultural Policy that underpins, rather than undermines, Irish agriculture.

The single farm payment must remain focused on rewarding farmers for their hard work and investment in producing food. It must not be turned into a social-type measure that spreads payments indiscriminately, and undermines its importance in future EU funding reforms.

Conceding
Nor can the single farm payment become a substitute for what should be a well-funded rural development programme. This programme supports farmers in marginal areas, promotes agri-environment measures and encourages restructuring and investment in farming. The Government must show its commitment to rural development through 50 per cent national co-financing.

The fear among farmers is that Minister Coveney is in danger of conceding way too much in a bid to secure an EU deal in these negotiations. We expect him to toughen his stance and defend our interests now as we approach the final discussions.

It’s up to Minister Coveney to deliver, and farmers will hold him accountable.

John Bryan is president of the Irish Farmers’ Association