Francie Gorman
President, Irish Farmers’ Association
Farmers face rising costs, falling incomes and policy challenges. To secure a sustainable future for farming, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must prioritise food production, funding and generational renewal.
Farmers and the food sector have been embedded in rural communities for generations, working with our natural resources to produce some the best food in the world, and handing on one of our most valuable national assets. However, there are many challenges facing us.
Rising costs on farms
The cost of doing business and the level of regulation are frustrating farmers and further adding to our cost base. In the context of the future of the sector, the definition of sustainability has to incorporate economic and social. It cannot be confined to just environmental.
Irish Farmers Association (IFA) analysis shows that costs on farms have risen by 73% in the last seven years. At the same time, farm incomes have fallen by 34%. That is a very difficult situation for farm families trying to map out their future.
The next CAP will decide the
path of farm policy beyond 2030.
Farmers need fair support
Whether it’s the work of the new EU Commission or whoever forms the next Government here, we need a new deal for farmers. The deal will have to recognise and reward those who are doing the work. We have a world-class farming and food sector. Farmers are the foundation of it all. We have a huge challenge to attract the next generation into the sector.
A combination of falling farm incomes and better opportunities in the economy makes it very difficult to convince young people to commit their futures to farming. The next CAP will decide the path of farm policy beyond 2030. We have seen a dangerous shift away from supporting food production. The CAP has to go back to its roots, back farming and food production — and be properly funded to do so.
Supporting farmers alongside climate action
At national and EU levels, additional funding has to be found for CAP, and separately, additional funding has to be found for climate action. For the last five years, the thrust of policy has been about a reduction in production to achieve our climate targets.
Asking some of the most sustainable food producers on the planet to reduce production will negatively impact the global ambition of reducing emissions. Farmers will rise to the challenge posed by climate action while continuing to produce world-class food.
