The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is “deeply concerned” that significant pressure will be brought to bear to have a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) deal sorted out, before Portugal hands over the presidency of the European Union (EU) at the end of this month.
ICMSA president Pat McCormack told Agriland: “The reality is that the final CAP deal arrived at, will shape the future of Irish agriculture for the next 10 years. And there are lots of issues that must be handled correctly in order to get the best deal for Irish farmers.
“Key among these is the challenge of convergence. The Irish government has always said that it fully supports family farms.
“This will not be the case, however, if we see a blanket move towards 85% convergence, where the basic payment is concerned.”
Farmer needs within CAP
McCormack stressed the need for the government to recognise the requirements of farmers who derive a full-time living from production agriculture.
He continued: “The principle of having the same support monies paid out on every acre of available land is very laudable. But it doesn’t work out in practice.
“Government must recognise the difference between a family farmer striving to secure a full-time living from, let’s say 60ac, and another landowner who only visits his or her property once a year.”
McCormack believes the only way around this problem is to ensure that an agreed proportion of the existing single payment will be ring-fenced for full-time farmers into the future.
“The size of the payment must be realistic and it must be large enough to help deliver future sustainability for family farm businesses,” he said.
Eco-schemes
Turning to the proposed eco- schemes, the ICMSA president said that farmers must be guaranteed a straightforward and hassle-free application process, where the new measure is concerned.
Significantly, the ICMSA president believes the co-ops shortchanged dairy farmers by up to 1.5c/L, with regard to the prices they paid for April milk.
He said: “They chose not to take full account of the value added component within the Ornua index.
“This issue must be rectified when it comes to sorting out the prices paid for May milk.
“Irish dairy farmers have just come through one of the most expensive spring milking periods in living memory,” he added.
“Regrowths have been extremely poor and costs keep mounting up. I am calling on all farmer-members on all the co-op boards to demand a realistic price for May milk.
“The reality is that dairy farmers were shortchanged in April and this matter must be rectified moving forward,” he concluded.