The agri-business sector has warned of "savage cuts" to the incomes of productive farmers if current proposals on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy are approved.
Leaders from the Irish Farmers Association, the meat and dairy industry, the co-operative movement, Teagasc and Macra Na Feirme came together this morning to express concern about the direction the negotiations are taking.
IFA president John Bryan said the next two weeks were going to be critical "for decisions that are going to be made for the future of agriculture".
Agriculture ministers from EU member states will meet on March 18th in a bid to reach agreement on how direct payments from Brussels should be shared out. “It’s absolutely imperative that our Minister for Agriculture, who is in the chair of the council of ministers protects active farmers and protects the interests of the Irish agri-business sector,” Mr Bryan said.
The European Commission wishes to move its single farm payment system from a method based on how much farmers produce, to one based on a flat payment per hectare, irrespective of how productive they are.
Farm groups such as the IFA have argued that this will reward farmers who do very little and penalise farmers who are the most productive.
“The proposals coming from the [European] Commission and the council of ministers at the moment are going to have a devastating effect on agriculture, in particular on active farmers who have invested substantially in their business,” Mr Bryan said. “This is the first reform where there is a proposal for savage cuts to active farmers.”
Cormac Healy of Meat Industry Ireland said the current proposals were "grossly unfair" and would have direct implications for jobs and export growth in the wider meat processing sector.
