The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) has said the upcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should support all farmers.
INHFA president Willem Molloy said the CAP programme, which currently supports more than 118,000 farmers, “must not become the preserve of the elite”.
These comments come as discussions on the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy intensify at European and national levels.
the Irish Milk Suppliers Association ICMSA proposed a definition of active farmer which the agricultural organization said “means at least one livestock unit (LU) per stocking density per hectare.”
INHFA
However, the INHFA president said the new Common Agricultural Policy “should not discriminate against less intensive and part-time farmers”.
Any definition, especially regarding stocking density, must “acknowledge and accommodate the different land types and constraints on which farmers have to work,” he said.
“Some have suggested that the new CAP should have a minimum stocking rate of 1 litre/ha, which if implemented could leave more than 90,000 farmers or 80% without CAP support.
He added: “While the remaining 20% may like this idea, the result will be devastating for rural communities and agriculture in general, including the remaining 20%, because it will significantly weaken our ability to lobby while undermining vital services such as veterinary medicine, contractors, our co-ops and other agricultural services.”
Willem Molloy, President of INHFA
Molloy said the priority for everyone in the agri-food sector should be “ensuring that as many farmers as possible remain actively involved in agriculture and that supporting the Common Agricultural Policy is an important part of this.”
“Farming practices are in most cases a reflection of the landscape, especially across our hills and in heavy peat soils, where farmers are limited in the type of stock and stocking rate they can carry.
“However, any such farmer is farming optimally while producing food sustainably in line with the requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy, so any attempt to penalize a farmer because of his or her land type is not only unfair, it undermines what the Common Agricultural Policy is all about.”
cap
The INHFA president also pointed to “environmental constraints” such as the Habitats Directive, which he said currently affected “more than 30,000 farmers”.
“These restrictions covered by Natura 2000 land designations often restrict agricultural activity through specific measures such as limiting stocking density.
“Any attempt to restrict access to CAP financing through measures that do not take into account the very limited impact of these classifications will certainly be challenged in the European Court of Justice but we hope it will never come to that.”
“Any attempt to divide farmers in order to support the elite will have dire consequences for everyone,” Moloy said.
