Call to deal with ‘forgotten’ farmers

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has urged Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to deal with the country’s “forgotten farmers.”

Patrick Kent, president, acknowledged the progress made in the case of the ‘old’ young farmers, but he said there is still a cohort who began farming activity too late to benefit from the 2000-2002 reference period.

These people are now considered to be farming too long to get a fair opportunity under the new Basic Payment Scheme. He said the farmers in this category must be brought up to the national average payment per hectare which, with the greening top-up, is about €250/ha — a very modest demand for hard-working young farmers.

“We cannot complain about the age structure of the industry if we allow a hard core of younger farmers to be left behind,” he said, after addressing the Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture.

Macra na Feirme president Seán Finan said the Common Agricultural Policy reforms had introduced incentives for young farmers, but this group of “old young farmers” had been disadvantaged.