October 6, 2010

Irish farmers get ready for Cap policy changes

Irish farmers are bracing themselves for the changes brought about by the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) signalled by EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

Ciolos said that he would fight for as much money as possible from the EU budget for agriculture, and how that money would be distributed would be a matter for negotiation.

Direct payments, which are worth more than EUR1.5 billion (US$2.08 billion) a year to Ireland's farmers, were secure and the principle was not under discussion, Ciolos said.

But he warned that the payment distribution methods would be adjusted, as the current system showed considerable differences in the rates of direct aid farmers get from one country to another

"Direct payments must be more equitably distributed among member states, regions and types of agriculture," he said. The system on which Irish direct payments were based here, farm output in the first three years of this century, would be difficult to justify 12 years on, he said.

But he also ruled out the possibility of bringing in a flat rate payment on the area of land owned by farmers, and said he did not think this was a good instrument because it would not address the diversity of farming in Europe.

He outlined the three priorities of the Cap as maintaining food production, sustainable management of natural resources, and the maintenance of the social fabric and landscape of rural areas.

The commissioner, who will publish a white paper on the reform package on November 17, said the strategic importance of agriculture would increase significantly in the future.

In the new Cap, he said, there would have to be new tools to address the extreme volatility of prices and farm incomes, and there was also a need to make progress on the question of distribution of bargaining power within the food chain. He said climate change was a huge challenge and farmers who could bring answers to this challenge needed support.

Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, who had invited the commissioner here, said he had met Ireland's Taoiseach earlier in the day, where the importance of having a properly resourced Cap in the future was discussed.

He called on the commissioner to allow flexibility regarding the distribution of funds in member states because the agro-ecological and social conditions of farming varied hugely with the union.

Mr Ciolos, who addressed the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, and representatives of agri-food industry and farm bodies, also visited a Co Kildare farm.