Changeover talk helped by top-up aid
This is “exactly what we need”, he told Seanad Eireann during his presentation last week on the Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme.
He said the global trend to produce more food in a sustainable framework is a major part of his motivation to introduce a new generation of farmers who understand climate change, food security and the need to measure both, when producing food.
“The members of this new generation also understand that the value of slaughtering an animal after 18 or 20 months, rather than after 28 or 30 months, is significant in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in the context of efficiency and profitability from a farming point of view.
“That is why, more than any other reason, we need such a new generation.
“On top of that, the young farmer’s payment is very much designed with Ireland in mind given the dramatic increases we have seen in the number of young farmers going to agricultural college and to university to study agriculture.”
He said only 6% of farmers in Ireland are under 35, and that is no basis for taking the industry forward to match ambitions for growth, expansion, sustainability and scientific auditing of how food is produced. “In Ireland, in terms of a figure for the maximum amount young farmers may be getting, a lot of people expected us to limit the young farmer’s top-up to the average farm size. That means they would receive it for the first 32 hectares and nothing after that, but we have raised it to the first 50 hectares. Therefore, a farmer who takes over a farm of 50 hectares will receive a payment of €16,000 over five years.
“A very strategic policy is being delivered through Pillar 1 and it will involve up to 2% of the total Pillar 1 money of €1.21bn.”
The top-up will be 25% of the national average single farm payment — so every young farmer will get the same extra lump sum, whether taking over a farm with a high or low single farm payment per hectare.
“We could have introduced an installation aid-type scheme for young farmers, but I did not believe that would be good value for money spend,” said Mr Coveney.
“The problem with the installation aid scheme, even though it was hugely popular among young farmers, was that there was no requirement on a young farmer in terms of how the money was spent. While young farmers were given a lump sum to help them start up as farmers, they were permitted to spend that money on anything they wanted, including outside of agriculture.
“We no longer have that luxury. We are providing now that where a young farmer wants to invest in his or her farm, which we are encouraging them to do, the State will help them do so by giving them a very significant capital support in terms of infrastructure and build, but not stock.” Explaining how the special capital investment support programme will positively discriminate in favour of young farmers, he said while most farmers applying for TAM scheme capital grant aid will receive 40% of the cost of doing works, a farmer under 40 will receive 60%.
“We are giving young farmers a top-up under Pillar 1 to encourage them to invest and we are also giving them a significant increase in terms of grant aid support for that investment when they decide to make it. This applies not only to the dairy sector, but to other sectors also.”
