Cuts to farm schemes add to farmer frustration
The conference asked the question, “Where now for Food Harvest 2020?” and was addressed by an impressive line-up of speakers — Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney TD; Dr Alan Ahearne, NUIG economist; and Dr Thia Hennessy, Teagasc Head of Agricultural Economics.
In his opening address to the delegates, ICSA national president Gabriel Gilmartin reflected on the farming year gone by, and challenged the Government on its commitment to the expansion targets of Food Harvest 2020.
>>2012 has been tough on our land, on our livestock and on our pockets. On-off housing of cattle during the summer led to full slurry tanks, and once again the nonsense that is ‘calendar farming’ came to the forefront. The rise of input costs is one of the big stories of the year. I wonder about the sustainability of increasing beef output value by 40% when we see the enormous increase in costs related to feed, fertiliser and fuel.
>>We need to develop more markets. Great diplomatic efforts have been made with China. Perhaps we should also look at the potential of Russia again. At the start of the decade it was a very significant customer for Irish beef. That trade collapsed as the Russian rouble collapsed in 2008. But 2011 saw Russia accounting for €25m of Irish beef exports. 2012 wasn’t a success for us in Russia; but with a growing middle class, strong revenues from oil and gas, and growth projections of 4% or better, we can’t ignore them.
The more markets the better. As well as that, ICSA remains firmly committed to live exports — not just for weanlings — and the Department must be proactive in supporting the trade.
>>The budget was very frustrating in a number of ways. The end of the Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme represents a huge blow, and I must say displays a short-sighted approach at best. It will have severe consequences for ICBF because a huge number of farmers will stop sending in their genetic data, because it’s simply not worth the effort for the return. It should really be called the ‘Suckler Cow Lite Scheme’. Cuts to the Disadvantaged Area Scheme will hit the farmers who can least afford it, and I am also alarmed at the ongoing increases in capital taxes and decrease in thresholds. Capital taxes may be seen as applying to the well-off, but the reality is that they hit family transfers the hardest. ICSA does welcome the concession on Capital Gains Tax to assist farm consolidation, as it has been a key element in our pre-budget submission for many years. The retention of the Grassland Sheep Scheme and the introduction of a Sheep Technology Adoption Programme are also very welcome.
>>We are now facing into a decisive period on CAP reform. My first concern is the budget for the 2014 -2020 period. Last month, heads of state from the 27 member states failed to agree the budget. This is very frustrating. Our concern is that there is pressure for a significant cut to the EU Commission position on the budget, with Herman van Rompuy suggesting nearly €18bn less. We need the Taoiseach to take a very strong line on this.
From the beginning, ICSA has been concerned that the flat rate proposal by Commissioner Ciolos would destroy the viability of many active farmers, who simply could not handle cuts of 30-40% to their payments. On the other hand, I passionately believe that there are many farmers with low payments through no fault of their own who need an increase — young farmers, farmers who were in enterprises that didn’t attract the same level of supports, and farmers who were only getting started around the reference period who only got a small allocation from the national reserve — or maybe none.
Yet, if we reject a flat rate in order to defend the family farm, there is a limited pot for re-distribution. We need objective criteria, which must be satisfied in order to get increased entitlements.
While a lot of the focus has been on Pillar 1, we must not take our eye off Pillar 2. The delay in getting a budget deal makes the question of Rural Development funding for 2014 quite problematic. We will need clarity on this sooner rather than later.
If we get this deal right, then we can still hope to go some way to achieving the targets of Food Harvest 2020. But we need more commitment from the Government in terms of supporting the sector.
