Farmers must become proactive in setting agenda for ‘Greening’ of CAP

FARMERS need to be proactive and set the agenda for the “Greening” of the Common Agricultural Policy, according to the chairman of Macra’s agricultural affairs committee, Kieran McEvoy.

Following a recent meeting of the European Council of Young Farmers,CEJA, Mr McEvoy said that farmers need to reclaim their role as leading and setting the environmental terms for farming and not leave it to external bodies to do so. Therefore, it is important that young farmers define their vision of greening.

Mr McEvoy said: “Irish farmers are already achieving a high level of compliance with environmentally friendly farming practices and this must be acknowledged in any new CAP deal.

“CEJA has welcomed the challenge of Greening the CAP to recognise the high standards of environmental protection delivered by European farmers, emphasising it should be incentivised not penalised.

“European young farmers have set out greening measures that are practical to implement at farm level as part of Pillar 1, the Single Farm Payment, and also under Pillar 2 in the form of schemes. The planned growth of Irish agriculture can be achieved in an environmentally sustainable fashion, because of our sustainable grass-based system of production.”

Mr McEvoy said that Irish farmers have demonstrated their ability to enhance the environment with measures that have resulted in improved water quality and reduced impact on the environment while producing the highest quality food in the world.

Young Irish farmers have already embraced the concept of farming in a sustainable way. Therefore, they do not fear the greening of the CAP, he said.

The Macra leader’s viewpoint was echoed by speakers earlier this week at the annual IFA Beef Conference in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

Ireland’s high quality traceability systems and the eco-friendly nature of the traditional family farming approach used in Ireland already falls very much into the parameters to be promoted by forthcoming EU directives.

Both Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, a senior official in the European Commission’s agriculture directorate, outlined Ireland’s advantage in this area at some length. For example, they noted the revised guidance on wildlife-friendly hedgerows, which are a common feature of the Irish agricultural landscape but which will need extensive promotion in most other EU member states.