Farmers are being treated as "collateral damage" in international trade deals in "efforts to finance other priorities in Europe", the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) has warned.

ICSA said its main focus ahead of this year’s National Ploughing Championships is to stand firm against the Mercosur trade deal and to demand a fully ringfenced CAP budget.

ICSA president Sean McNamara has said that the Mercosur deal is a "serious threat" to Ireland's beef sector, and any weakening of the CAP budget post-2027 "would strike at the very foundation of farm incomes across Ireland".

“With so many politicians and MEPs set to attend this week, ICSA will be driving home the message loud and clear: Mercosur must be stopped, and the CAP must be protected," McNamara said.

"We will be challenging them face-to-face to deliver for Irish farmers and to stop selling us out in Brussels.

"Farmers deserve clear answers, not excuses.”

McNamara said that the duel threats of Mercosur and CAP cuts "cannot be ignored".

"Farmers are being thrown under the bus twice over - first by a reckless Mercosur trade deal that would flood the market with cheap imports, and second by attempts to raid the CAP budget to fund other EU ambitions," the ICSA president continued.

"Together, these pose a direct attack on the future of Irish farming."

The ICSA said it has a petition opposing the Mercosur deal that farmers can sign at the National Ploughing Championships.