EU changes to agriculture policy slashed incomes

CHANGES to the EU’s common agriculture policy substantially reduced farmers’ incomes last year, figures reveal.

After years of being a major beneficiary from the EU’s €46 billion annual agriculture budget, the reform of the CAP appears to have hit Irish farmers more than any others in the Union.

Last year their real incomes fell by 13.3% compared to 2005, which is 10% less than what they earned in 2000, say Eurostat. But this must be set against a higher than average increase last year, the experts said.

This year’s drop is mainly due to lower subsidies as Irish farmers reduced the amount of animals and animal products they sold and got out of growing beet.

Farmers in most of the new member states where they get lower subsidies increased their incomes although Estonia, Malta and Slovenia suffered a drop.

Dutch farmers incomes jumped by more than 15% last year while the EU average increase was 3.8% in real terms. Other big earners were Poland, Belgium, France, Denmark and Britain.

A survey of attitudes towards CAP showed that after the French, the Irish were the most aware of the EU’s controversial agriculture policy. The French are the biggest beneficiaries getting 22% of the money while Ireland gets 4%.

Just over half approved of the reforms — where farmers no longer receive subsidies based on the amount they produce whether its likely to sell.

This encouraged some Irish farmers to get out of producing cattle and moving into crops. The figures for last year show crop output increased by almost 2%.

Under the reforms farmers can grow what they want and will continue to receive subsidies providing they meet a series of criteria that ensures they produce quality food and protect the environment.

But while a third of Irish people thought they had a good knowledge of the EU’s agriculture policy and the changes, they were among the Union’s dunces when it came to knowing the answers to three simple questions. Just a quarter got them correct, placing them 22nd in a class of 25.

The questions were:

The Rural Areas cover around 90% of the whole EU territory? (true)

Approximately 3% of the EU population are farmers? (true)

And The EU exports more agricultural products than it imports? (false).