A new scheme that is being developed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide support to the ‘forgotten farmers’ must have “clear funding”, Macra has warned.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has said details of the scheme will be announced in the “coming weeks” once the final go ahead is secured from the Department of Public Expenditure.
Macra president John Keane has urged the minister to ensure that the scheme is constructed in a way that will not leave any farmer out.
There are an estimated 4,000 farmers who lost out on vital farmer supports due to cuts in public expenditure by the government following the last recession.
The ‘forgotten farmers’ had typically set up their agricultural holdings before 2008 and were under 40 in 2015 but did not qualify for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports.
Speaking at the 2022 Macra conference last weekend, McConalogue pledged to unveil a scheme that would specifically address the plight of these farmers who, he said, are in their current position “through no fault of their own”.
While Macra has welcomed this commitment from the minister it has also cautioned that there are “outstanding questions” about the proposed scheme, particularly in relation to how farmers will qualify for it, that must be addressed.
Keane said that over the last 10 years Macra has been actively involved in “discussions and made countless submissions” in relation to the forgotten farmers.
“It is Macra’s belief that every forgotten farmer needs to receive the nominal sum of supports that they have missed out on since 2008,” he said.
“There also needs to be clear funding outlined for the scheme and how these forgotten farmers can access the funds.
“Every effort must be made to ensure that all forgotten farmers are catered for under the new scheme,” he added.
Keane said it is crucial that a situation does not arise where some farmers would be “left out for a second time”.
“The value of fairness must come through on this and all those that were forgotten must be included to resolve the issue once and for all.”
McConalogue has said the new scheme will support farmers who:
- Did not benefit from installation aid;
- Were aged no more than 40 in 2015;
- Had required the level 6 qualification by 2015;
- Had submitted a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application in 2015;
- Did not benefit previously under the national reserve in BPS or Single Payment Scheme (SPS) under any category;
- Had set up as head of agricultural holding before 2008.
Macra has indicated that this criteria set out by the minister “will need further work” to clarify the exact number of farmers that will be able to qualify for the proposed scheme.
The organisation now plans to make a further submission to McConalogue in the coming weeks to outline its proposals for the forgotten farmers scheme.