Farmers’ incomes face ‘significant’ drop

DAIRY farmer Tom Wilson says carbon tax and VAT increases will add to fuel, animal feed and building costs, significantly reducing future farm incomes.

Based in Enniskeane, Co Cork, Mr Wilson is also opposed to the new flat €100 tax on every Irish home, due to rise to €200 in 2012.

“That tax is not even-handed,” said Tom Wilson. “A person with a 2,500 sq ft house is paying the same as someone with a 12,500 sq ft house. Why should someone with a small house pay the same as someone with a big house? The tax should be based on house size. Farm families with two houses on one farm are already being hit twice by this tax.

“The 1% VAT increase will also be hard on farmers, adding to animal feed and building costs. It will add to fuel costs. Animal feed has already risen by €60, from €180-€190 to €240-€250 per ton. The double carbon tax will also add to fuel costs.”

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president, Jackie Cahill, described the doubling of the carbon tax as “the Green Party rolling a grenade back into the room on their way out”.

Mr Cahill also said that bringing VAT up to 23.5%, coupled with cuts in the various farm support schemes would place farm families in real financial jeopardy. He said this move threatened to undermine the Government’s ambition to build Irish agri-food exports.

The Department of Agriculture’s budgeted 23% in cuts seems severe compared to single-digit cuts in many other departments. However, the farm sector savings will mostly come from the scheduled winding down of schemes like REPS and the Early Retirement Scheme.

In response, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) is urging the state to pay out some farm payments by the end of this year. Agri-foods exports could increase by €750m, or 12%, this year, with great job-creating potential.

Mr Bryan said: “The Government must ensure that an AEOS [agri-environment options schemes] replacement for those farmers leaving REPS [Rural Environment Protection Scheme] is put in place. The allocation for 2011 will be inadequate if the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith does not pay all outstanding payments to farmers this year.

“It is vital that agriculture’s capital commitments in 2011 are met. The minister can do this by paying out the €120m owed to 17,000 farmers as part of the Farm Waste Management Scheme before the end of the year.”

A Department of Agriculture statement noted that the Government’s four-year plan contains no changes to 2011 payment rates for the department’s major schemes — REPS, AEOS and DAS.