Some farming policy choices made by the EU and Ireland were not the right ones and some went too far, the Irish EU Commissioner has said.
EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness made the remarks as she addressed Seanad Éireann yesterday (Tuesday, May 9) to mark Europe Day 2023.
She said that it is not just a climate crisis which we are facing, but also environmental challenges such as pressure on water, soil and biodiversity.
The commissioner said that the EU is “setting the agenda” on these issues, adding that the European Green Deal is aiming for climate neutrality by 2050.
Farming policy
Commissioner McGuinness, who previously sat on the EU Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), noted the changes that farmers are “having to make or are being asked to make”.
The commissioner said that it is no longer the case that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) drives agriculture, it is more about climate policy, environment and health.
“It was public policy of the past to drain land, and we grant-aided farmers to do so, including draining bog land.
“It was the policy to maximise production, eking out every corner of a field to get production up and running and enlarging fields by ripping out hedgerows,” she said.
“We have to acknowledge, because farmers need to hear this, that some of the policy choices we made were not the right ones and some of them went too far.
“When we are asking people to change, we need to understand where they are coming from and explain why public policy has evolved,” McGuinness added.
The commissioner said that the EU had not done a very good job of managing this process of change or giving farmers ownership of it.
She acknowledged that many farmers are taking action to address both climate and environmental issues.
“The truth is we need much more of it but the worry I have is that we will get less change if we alienate those who can make the change happen because they need encouragement, not criticism,” she said.
Commissioner McGuinness, whose husband is a farmer, said it was important to note that “there is a build up of upset and frustration at farm level”.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly praised the commissioner for stating that Europe and Ireland had previously got it wrong in pushing for a particular form of agriculture, which she said had done a disservice to farmers given the direction of policy today.
“It is really important to point out that nobody is pointing the finger at farmers. I hear this quite a lot and it boils my blood slightly.
“People are playing politics with farmers’ lives and with the climate. No Green Party member will ever point the finger at a farmer.
“What we need to do is put in place supports so that people have greener choices that ensure they have a future for their family farms,” the senator said.
Young farmers
Meanwhile, Commissioner Mairead McGuinness told the EU Parliament today that the agriculture sector in the EU is not attracting enough young people to become farmers.
She was debating the role of farmers in the green transition and how to help the agriculture sector more effectively.
“The sector does not attract people so there is not a rush of young men and women to become farmers. This house is really concerned about the lack of generational renewal in agriculture,” she said.
“We have a very diversified agriculture across our member states but we see this common problem.
“The number of farmers is declining; small farmers are opting out, renting land or indeed selling. Farmers are aging, the average [age] is 57,” she told MEPs.
“There is some light at the end of this tunnel; we’re seeing more women enter farming. One figure that struck me is the increase in the share of women farm managers to 31%,” McGuinness noted.
“But I do think we share this concern about generational renewal and our policies have to support, as member states are doing, young farmers to get established.
“But encouraging young men and women to farm will not succeed if they cannot earn decent incomes for their efforts. We also need to make our rural areas more attractive and dynamic, farmers are at the core of this,” the commissioner said.