Future of agri-food reliant on outcome of EU talks

Farmers in the disadvantaged areas are bracing for a 13.6% (€30m) cut in their 2012 payments, announced in the budget last December. And until the CAP reform talks are concluded, the future of these and of other rural development schemes which are funded by the EU is uncertain.

Much of the focus of discussion around CAP reform is on the single farm payment, but the importance of the separate rural development programme is clear — with an allocation of nearly €4.9bn in Ireland for the 2007 to 2013 period. From this comes agri-environment payments (REPS, AEOS); disadvantaged area payments; and other competitiveness funds, improvement of environment, land management and the development of the wider rural economy.

We asked IFA rural development chairman Flor McCarthy how important rural development measures are, and what changes farmers may see in the coming years.