CAP plan ‘favours sofa producers’
Sofa producers are individuals who receive direct payments without actually farming.
Macra president Seamus Phelan said it is clear the new area-based payments would go to the landowner even if the land is being farmed by someone else.
Describing this as "immoral and unsustainable", he said any available direct payments must go to farmers not to those who have left the industry.
Mr Phelan said the Fischler proposals were set up to reform the CAP by breaking the link between payments and production.
The proposals would remove the incentive to produce and would lead to a drop in agricultural output, particularly in the suckler and beef sectors.
Mr Phelan said: "These proposals will suit farmers who want to reduce their farming activity. The resulting decrease in agricultural output will have major implications for our agri-business sector."
