IFA criticises Agri Vision 2015
Mr Lucey, speaking at a press conference in Dublin, said that, as a result, the report is widely perceived to have concluded that there will be 10,000 or fewer full-time viable farmers in Ireland in 2015. “The report is misleading in presentation because it omits to state that, based on its own analysis, 40,000 farms are likely to be economically viable based on farming only, in 2015.
“It points out the negatives - 45,000 farms will be non-viable in farming but the farmer or spouse will have an off-farm job, and a further 20,000 are described as transitional (non-viable and no job),” he said.
Mr Lucey said the report is flawed in analysis because the Teagasc paper on which the conclusions are based has invented a new definition of a part-time farm, having previously used the term to describe the economic size of the farm.
Under the new definition a farmer with, for example, 100 dairy cows and working on a farm full-time seven days a week for most of the year, is deemed to be working on a part-time farm if his wife has a job.
“This is absurd in this day and age and would not be applied to any other sector. The committee fully backed this approach.”
Mr Lucey said the Agri Vision report executive summary, referring to the Teagasc paper, states that the committee considers the analysis to be reliable as to its methodology and persuasive as to its conclusions.
IFA president John Dillon said recommendations in the Agri Vision report are also extremely weak on farm incomes, viable product prices and the ongoing need for on-farm investment and consolidation to improve competitiveness.
