Family farm model under pressure

A combination of factors is contriving to put unprecedented pressure on the Irish and European Union model of family farming, the Irish Farmers Association president Eddie Downey claimed at a conference held in Dublin yesterday to celebrate the UN International Year of Family Farming.

Mr Downey told the conference that Irish farm families, like those all over the world, do a vital job and play a pivotal role in the economic well-being of rural communities, where agriculture represents the backbone of their economies.

Every family in Ireland and across the globe depends on the output of family farms for their very being, he said.