No room for complacency over Nice, warns Phelan
President Seamus Phelan issued the alert yesterday when revealing the results of a Macra/FBD survey of an elite group of the country’s young farmers on issues likely to affect them in the future.
He said the survey shows more than double the number of young farmers will vote yes in the Nice Referendum and 40% intend to vote in favour of ratifying the treaty. Only 18% plan to vote against it but 39% remain undecided. Only 3% indicated they will not vote.
“Therefore, there is clearly a lot more to be done by the Department of Agriculture and Food to secure a Yes vote from Ireland’s young farmers in the referendum,” he said.
Mr Phelan said it is also clear from the survey that young farmers are very politically aware, especially with regard to EU issues. This contrasts with the rising trend for political apathy among young people in this country.
The survey was carried out among 104 farmers aged between 17 and 35 who participated as finalists in the FBD Young Farmer of the Future Awards.
Thirty-four per cent said they were optimistic about the future of farming. Ten per cent were pessimistic. And fifty-six per cent were concerned.
Mr Phelan said 72% of respondents believed the CAP proposals will not benefit Irish agriculture.
The proposals to decouple direct payments from production and pay farmers a lump sum based on previous years’ payments was seen as a major stumbling block for new entrants and existing young farmers.
A 66% majority of respondents also indicated they would avail of more land if it were to become more frequently available under the Early Retirement Scheme.
“The lack of expansion avenues available to these highly committed individuals is of major concern to the industry which never required new blood more to face the challenges that lie ahead. The survey clearly highlights the level of frustration out there among young farmers,” Mr Phelan said.
The survey also reveals that agricultural supports and concessions available to young farmers at start-up stage has a relatively high level of uptake, with 74% of eligible respondents having availed of the installation aid scheme.
Mr Phelan this scheme was an essential measure in providing valuable financial support to young entrants at start up stage.
But it was also evident from the survey that young farmers were experiencing a great deal of difficulty in gaining access to the farm waste management and dairy hygiene schemes. The uptake on these schemes was well below what was originally anticipated and needs to be addressed.
Seventy-six per cent of Ireland’s young farmers believed stress and/or depression was a concern to young people in rural areas. A further 62% claimed not enough was being done to address the problem.
"These results are very worrying as the respondents to this survey are representative of their Macra clubs and the wider rural community.
“Stress and depression are being recognised as areas of major concern in rural areas relating as they do to the rise in suicide in rural Ireland, particularly among young men,” he said.
“Whilst these problems are by no means restricted to rural Ireland, I believe it can have particularly daunting effects in remote areas of the country where help may be more difficult to find.”
Mr Phelan said Macra Na Feirme was calling on the Government to take immediate measures to tackle this problem.
