Cancun and CAP critical for farmers
He made the claim when outling details of the ASA annual conference to be held in Kilkenny on Friday.
Faced with decreasing margins and uncertain prices, he said surveyed farmers in 75% of cases are uncertain about farm succession.
"Yet, agriculture continues to be a truly significant industry, contributing 27% of Ireland's net foreign earnings, accounting for 10% of all exports and providing employment for one in ten of our workforce," he said.
Guests straight from the collapsed WTO talks will join a national line-up of speakers, which will be sponsored by Glanbia plc.
The conference theme is "At a Crossroads: Move Forward or Meltdown."
The opportunities and threats associated with the WTO negotiations and CAP reform, the scale and structures at processor and producer levels necessary to deliver global competitiveness and innovation and branding will be discussed.
Speakers direct from Cancun will include Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh, who will open the conference; Mary Revelt, US Department of Agriculture and Food; John Malone, Department of Agriculture and Food; and Michael Berkery, IFA general secretary.
