Watching, waiting for reform

Simon Coveney has been busy brokering reform of EU agri policy in recent weeks. Farming editor Stephen Cadogan looks at how it will impact here in Ireland

AGRICULTURE Minister Simon Coveney didn’t undersell his achievement in brokering reform of the EU’s seven-year agriculture policy. “It’s the most important sector in Europe, the agri and food industry,” he said.

It’s an apt assessment coming from Ireland, where primary agriculture has become by far the biggest small to medium-enterprise for new bank borrowing. It averages €37m per month, about one third of all new SME lending, compared to €23m lent to the wholesale/retail sector. That indicates farmer confidence despite setbacks like the fodder crisis, and Coveney’s next battle after the policy reform in Brussels will be to keep that Irish agri-momentum positive, by adjusting the mix of options agreed at EU level into a national programme acceptable to farmers and to the industry which processes their produce.