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EU farm talks which are set to agree a greater emphasis on funding for eco schemes in agriculture have the potential to impact severely on Irish farm incomes, Irish Farmers Association president Tim Cullinan has warned.
“If the EU were serious about more environmental ambition, they should put up more funding instead of taking 20 to 30 per cent of every farmer’s existing basic payment,” he said after meeting with EU Council president Maria do Céu Antunes on Wednesday prior to the Agriculture Council going into session. He is directly involved as first vice-president of the European umbrella farm organisation COPA.
More than €10 billion in subsidies to Irish farmers is at stake covering the 2023 to 2027 period as ministers attempt to nail down common agricultural policy (CAP) reforms in talks likely to run into Thursday and possibly Friday.
Changes to internal convergence, flattens the value of CAP payments for farmers with entitlement values above the national average and redistributes funds to farmers below the national average, will also dominate discussions.
“We have no option other than to keep these so-called eco schemes to a minimum as it is clear that they will cost farmers money and compound the impact of convergence on farmers with higher per hectare payments,” Mr Cullinan said.
“It’s very important that countries which have committed a lot of their Pillar II payments [supporting rural development] to environmental initiatives, including Ireland, are given credit for this when it comes to finalising their eco scheme percentage,” he said.
In addition, there was a need to “ensure conditions for eligibility were practical and do not impact on commercial agriculture including on peatlands”.
“European farmers have to comply with numerous conditions to receive their payments and these are being ratcheted up again as part of this reform. Farmers are being asked to do more and more for less money,” he said.
It was a critical time for Irish agriculture as the outcome would determine the future viability of thousands of farmers, he said. “At present, only one-third of farmers in Ireland are classed as viable. The redistributive effect of this [CAP] reform is likely to reduce the number of viable farmers. It is counter to all logic.”
The talks were the first big test for Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, he said. “It’s vital he stands up for Irish farmers and is prepared to hold out for a better deal. There’s another month left in the Portuguese presidency and no deal is better than a bad deal.”
Mr McConalogue denied farmers’ incomes would be cut by 30 per cent as a result of the new CAP though admitted convergence changes would have a negative impact. “Some farmers’ incomes go up and some go down,” he said.
Key to the new CAP plan was linking payments to increased environmental ambitions but he said he would seek a way to ensure convergence on payments does not overly impact farm incomes.
ICMSA president Pat McCormack said a “sense of realism” was urgently needed, even at this late stage. Farmers are concerned the debate is “being hijacked by vested interests, including within Government, who were intent on turning the next CAP into an unworkable environmental policy”, he said, in what appears to be a reference to the Green Party.
Irish agriculture is headed towards a “situation where thousands of farm families across the entire country will suffer substantial cuts to their direct payments and incomes, while having to meet new and unsurpassed levels of inspection and regulation”.
“Based on what we’re hearing as of now, we’re headed towards less payments for much more regulation and absolutely nothing for meaningful sustainability,” he added.
The Minister must bring a sense of realism that delivers a CAP for sustainable farming, Mr McCormack said, as “current proposals are not just neutral, but worse”.
The Government had to get a firmer hold of this issue, he said. “They could start by remembering the primary purpose of CAP is to deliver safe and sustainable food from a farm sector while ensuring proportionate incomes for the farmer primary-producers.”