Cheap food policy is leading to a farming exodus - INHFA

'Farmers are often on their own working long hours and under pressure to deliver are at a higher risk of a farm accident.'

'If Europe wants to continue with a cheap food policy while demanding higher environmental ambition, it needs to face the reality that the CAP budget will need to increase dramatically.'

LOW farm incomes are being blamed for an exodus from the land, especially in the suckler and sheep sectors.

Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) new president Vincent Roddy, who made the claim, said the issue is critical because “every time we lose a farmer, our sector and its lobbying power is weakened.” He told his Association’s recent annual general meeting in Ballybofey, Co Donegal, that low income is being driven by a cheap food policy instigated by the EEC decades ago.