The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) is calling for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding to be directed towards the “first 40ha” through convergence and payment redistribution.

Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine yesterday (Wednesday, June 9), ICSA president Dermot Kelleher called for “family sized” cattle, sheep and tillage farmers to be protected when CAP negotiations continue at EU level.

“Payments must be funneled towards cattle, sheep, and tillage farmers – most of whom are not viable,” Kelleher said.

“Otherwise, we are sending the signal that everybody who wants to farm must farm dairy.”

“The reality is that the CAP budget is being steadily eroded by inflation and that farmers are being asked to do more and more with less and less. However, if the EU wants a greener CAP, then it must reward the farmer who is less intensive and wants to participate in a worthwhile agri-environment scheme,” he added.

The farm leader argued that such a scheme should have the potential to pay up to €15,000.

Commenting on the current state of play in CAP reform, Kelleher noted that, at present, convergence will be set at a rate of 85% – i.e. that all payments must be within 85% of the current average.

He argued that this is a “noble aspiration”, but highlighted that it would also cut payments from “already strapped” suckler, beef and sheep farmers.

The ICSA president said he supported the redistribution of payments throug the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).

“ICSA favours insulating smaller and medium sized farmers from convergence cuts and we would like to see a system that allocates more support for the first 40ha,” he said.

However, Kelleher argued that the CRISS is “insufficient”, arguing that it “takes a liner cut from all farmers, which is robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

He also called for payments to be capped at €60,000.

“We also think that the message must be sent back to Brussels that asking farmers to do more and more on the green agenda for less and less money cannot be sustained,” Kelleher concluded.