Farm leaders insist agreement spells sector’s ‘death warrant’

A DEATH warrant for farmers and another direct hit on farm incomes on top of the Government’s own budget cuts was how farm leaders described the latest CAP agreement.

They said farmers are facing a 5% reduction in their single-farm payment due to increased modulation — the measure under which funds are transferred from direct payments to the rural development programme.

IFA president Pádraig Walshe said increased modulation would cut the single-farm payment for the majority of farmers every year for the next four years, and would amount to €42 million a year in deductions when fully implemented.