Honner welcomes farming category

Macra na Feirme national president Thomas Honner has welcomed the inclusion of a category for new entrants to farming in the National Reserve under the Single Farm Payment regime.

Mr Honner said that Macra had worked vigorously to ensure that such a category was included and that young farmers would be a priority within the category.

However, Mr Honner said that he is very unhappy with the income limits imposed on applicants in the ‘new entrant’ category of the National Reserve.

“While Macra supports the prioritising of young full-time farmers, we are opposed to the total exclusion of people with over €20,000 off-farm income or over €40,000 total income from the reserve altogether.”

Mr Honner pointed out that this was particularly harsh as there were no income limits in the other categories.

Mr Honner said that the Reserve was a very important element of the Single Farm Payment regime and something that Macra had fought very hard for at European level.

“It is vital that the Department now uses the parameters available within the new payment system to ensure that an ongoing reserve of entitlements is available for new entrants to farming in the years ahead,” said Mr Honner.