IFA seeks sheep production overhaul
Eliminating excessive red tape and bureaucracy under cross compliance, encouraging exports and protecting our high health status is also high on the agenda of the IFA.
This was the strong message from a positive meeting on sheep between IFA president John Dillon and Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan in Dublin.
IFA National Sheep Committee chairman Laurence Fallon said he is convinced Ms Coughlan is fully committed to reopening the important trade for breeding sheep to the North and will be immediately pursuing this issue with the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland.
Mr Fallon told Ms Coughlan there must be a fair level of tolerance under the new cross compliance requirements for the single farm payment on sheep identification and registration.
“Minister Coughlan understands the practical difficulties with the sheep ID system and register at farm level and knows tolerance must be built in to the new cross compliance rules,” he added.
The IFA delegation also raised the scrapie control programme. Mr Fallon said Ms Coughlan made it clear to the IFA she is fully committed to ensuring payment levels of REPs/SMA for hill sheep farmers in designated areas and commonages are maintained under the new single farm payment scheme.
Sheep farming is the third most important farming sector in Ireland, involving 36,000 farmers, 3.7 million ewes and is worth up to €300m annually.
