The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) has revealed the results of an online survey it recently undertook to gauge the views of its members – and other farmers – on key issues surrounding the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Announcing the launch of the survey earlier this month, the IBLA claimed that Irish farmers “have not been consulted on which CAP proposals they prefer to have in place”.
The IBLA said it intended to consult with its members and the wider farming public through the survey. According to the organisation, there were in excess of 2,000 respondents to the survey.
According to the newly-published results, 81.9% of respondents said they favoured full convergence i.e. direct payments brought up to 100% of the national average.
5% of respondents said they favoured 85% convergence, while 13.6% said they preferred no convergence at all.
According to the recently-rebranded farm organisation, the results “reflect the current imbalance of how CAP payments are distributed among recipients”.
The IBLA also claimed the survey “reflects the will of Irish farmers on how they wish to have entitlement payments redistributed”.
“This brings a clear signal to Minister [for Agriculture, Food and the Marine] Charlie McConalogue that change is required and that full convergence is the desired outcome.
“Should there be any doubt, Minister McConalogue has at his disposal the capacity to survey every farmers in Ireland through his department,” the association argued.
The survey also asked respondents what type of farm enterprise they operated, to which participants could give more than one answer.
86% of respondents said that they were beef farmers, while 32% of respondents said they were sheep farmers.
7% of respondents identified as dairy farmers, and the same figure for tillage. 1%; 2%; and 3% respectively identified as having pig/poultry; equine; and ‘other’ farm enterprises.
The respondents did not merely include members exclusively of the IBLA. Participants in the survey were asked what farm organisation(s) they belonged to and, again, were able to give more than one answer.
Less than half of respondents (45%) reported being members of the IBLA itself. The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) was the second-most represented group, with just over 35% of participants being members of that organisation, according to the results.
The third highest answer – in terms of the percentage of respondents who gave that answer – was in fact for no farm organisation. Just shy of 10% said they were not a member of any farm organisation.
About 8% to 9% said they were members of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA); about 6% to 7% were members of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA); 5% said they were Macra na Feirme members; around 4% reported being members of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA); and roughly 6% responded with ‘other’.