Progress on farm partnerships welcomed by Macra president
The department has indicated that the formal certificates of registration for partnerships will be issued shortly to all partnerships included in the new register.
Mr Finan said: “I’d like to acknowledge the progress by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the development and incentivising of partnership arrangements for farmers who want to work together.
“There is an outstanding issue around previously established New Entrant Parent Partnerships regarding their eligibility for the young farmer definition which was raised with Minister [Simon] Coveney and his department in order to find a solution.
“These young farmers were pioneers of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine partnership structure and it is important that they are defined as young farmers for the 2014-2020 CAP.”
Meanwhile, a Macra delegation, led by Mr Finan, played an active part in achieving agreement on the newly introduced Farmers Charter of Rights.
The outcome was welcomed by Mr Finan, CEO Edmond Connolly, and Derrie Dillon, Agricultural Affairs Manager.
Mr Finan said: “The Farmers Charter will provide clarity to both farmers and the department to improve the standards and delivery targets for schemes.”
The new charter, which will come into immediate effect will now be published.
It will remain in place until 2020 coinciding with the lifetime of the current Pillar I and Pillar II schemes.
A Charter Monitoring Committee will be established under an independent chairman to monitor agreed targets and standards. The committee will be composed of representatives of the farm organisations and staff of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
He concluded: “The Charter Monitoring Committee will be a useful vehicle to ensure that the department delivers on its commitment to farmers in terms of payment timeframes, cross-compliance inspections, etc. Macra na Feirme looks forward to participating in this committee.”
