The Minister for Agriculture has warned farmers that voting against the Nice Treaty could create a crisis for Irish agriculture. Mr Walsh also said that Department of Agriculture officials were monitoring the weather but it was too early to say if there was a crisis in farming.

In his first press conference since his retention as Minister, Mr Walsh said farmers should realise that last year there had been direct payments to them from the EU totalling €1.4 billion and since joining the Union, the sector had received €23 billion.

"The sector here should be aware that Ireland is a role model for the applicant countries and that in the future we may rely on them as we have to build alliances with agricultural counties," he said.

He told farmers it was in their best interests and in the interests of the State as a whole that the Nice Treaty be supported.

Mr Walsh, who was introducing the two new Ministers of State for Agriculture, Mr Noel Treacy and Mr Liam Aylward, to the press, said he expected that the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy would not be completed before the Nice vote.

He accepted there were elements of the reform of the agriculture policy which would create difficulties for farmers here.

These included leaked suggestions that headage payments on stock would be replaced by payments for land owned and suggestions that direct payments would not be linked to production but to the individual farmer.

Mr Walsh said that since 1996, agricultural development had been stalled by external factors, scares involving BSE and foot-and-mouth.

Mr Treacy will take over responsibility for food marketing and Mr Aylward will have responsibility for food quality and animal welfare.