November’s budget must deliver for farm families in 3 key areas
The core objective for the Government has to focus on supporting sectors which are delivering jobs and export growth.
We expect Minister Coveney to make a strong case for agriculture around the Cabinet table in the coming weeks.
In line with the past number of years, the 2013 farm income results highlight the major challenges farmers across all enterprises face in dealing with huge volatility in both weather and product prices.
Once again, despite these difficulties, particularly in livestock and tillage, agriculture has recorded positive export growth.
Food and drink exports increased to almost €10bn and the sector experienced significant employment growth last year.
In this year’s Budget, the Government must deliver for farm families in three key areas:
Firstly, the Budget allocation for agriculture has to reflect fully the EU funding secured for the new Rural Development Plan. This means adequate provision under all farm schemes — GLAS, TAMS, ANC and Beef Genomics — and payments in 2015;
Secondly, a pro-work Budget that reduces the burden of income-related taxes on low and middle-income families;
And, thirdly, the retention of hard-won taxation reliefs available to farm families, and new measures to address extreme income volatility and encourage restructuring and transfer.
Funding for farm schemes underpins farm incomes and output. Under the new Rural Development Programme (RDP), there is an overall allocation of €2.1bn of EU funding and €1.9bn of national funding for the period 2014-2020.
Over €500m of funding for RDP farm schemes must be provided in this October’s budget.
This funding will deliver programmes of support for farmers, especially in vulnerable sectors and regions; the provision of environmental services, encourage young farmers and promote on-farm investment.
To maximise the economic return on this investment and to allow for prompt participation by farmers in these programmes, it is critical that Ireland’s Rural Development Plan is implemented from autumn 2014.
Expenditure priorities for farming in Budget 2015 are:
n Commencement of contracts for the new agri-environmental GLAS scheme in early 2015, with 30,000 farmers allowed into the scheme in its first year and payments disbursed in 2015;
n Allocation of €30m for the TAMS scheme in 2015 to fund on-farm investment programmes across all sectors;
n Funding of €52m for the Beef Data & Genomic scheme to support the vulnerable suckler sector;
n Increased capital funding allocations forthe horticulture, forestry and aquaculture sectorsto achieve output targets and employment growth.
The key objectives for IFA in the independent review of taxation and for Budget 2015 are to ensure valuable tax reliefs, which are critical to the development and growth of the agri sector, are maintained.
These include stock relief, agricultural relief and capital allowances.
We want to secure new tax incentives that are necessary to drive structural improvements by incentivising land transfer, mobility and investment, examine how the taxation system can better accommodate the extreme volatility in farm incomes, and examine how tax returns can be simplified to drive down compliance costs.
Our association has put forward practical and innovative solutions to address these issues.
Measures must be provided to support investment at farm and industry level.
In addition, the taxation system must encourage greater land mobility and earlier lifetime transfers.
