Time for small farmers to break with the IFA?

[Sam Lord]

20,000 farmers tie up Dublin today in a protest organised by the IFA against CAP reform

Yet, according to Fintan O'Toole in the IT the proposed reform will only marginally reduce the amount to money being provided to Irish farmers. However, bigger farmers will get less of the overall pot while smaller farmers will gain substantially.

More recently, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney gave the Dáil even starker figures: “Under a national flat rate, although the overall allocation to Ireland would not change, around 76,000 Irish farmers would gain an average of 86 per cent on their current payments, while around 57,000 would lose an average of 33 per cent.”

Yet Coveney is standing with the IFA in opposing changes that would benefit a majority of farmers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325059375.html

Why are the majority of farmers in Ireland continuing to support an organisation that is clearly not acting in their interests?

According to O'Toole 37% of the CAP money is currently going to 10% of those involved in farming:

Who benefits from this system? The Department of Agriculture has always insisted on keeping the names private, but in 2008, the information commissioner forced the release of the names. At that time, 37 per cent of SFPs were going to the top 10 per cent of farmers. The two biggest earners were Larry Goodman’s Irish Agricultural Development, which received €508,390 in subsidies, and Kepak Farm, which received €346,118. The next eight biggest farm businesses each received subsidies of between €305,000 and €212,000.

The ones benefiting the most seem to be limited companies and not even farmers in the traditional sense.

[C. Flower]

It certainly struck me today that there was no coherent position coming from the IFA, in part because the interests of larger and smaller farmers differ.

The number of farmers in Ireland has decreased, but small farms have slightly increased to 2011. It would be interesting to get an explanation for that trend.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/sta...Small_holdings

[Sam Lord]

There seem to be about 138,000 farms in Ireland.

The IFA has a membership of 85,000 which corresponds to only about 60% of the farms. And I presume that some big farming operations would have more than one member of the IFA. So there appears to be a substantial number of farmers out there who are not organised. Unless I am misssing a farming organisation. Is there a small farmers organisation in Ireland?

[C. Flower]

There seem to be about 138,000 farms in Ireland.

The IFA has a membership of 85,000 which corresponds to only about 60% of the farms. And I presume that some big farming operations would have more than one member of the IFA. So there appears to be a substantial number of farmers out there who are not organised. Unless I am misssing a farming organisation. Is there a small farmers organisation in Ireland?

There are a lot of who are part time farmers who have a few acres and a bit of a sheep quota or similar. But I would like to see a real break down and analysis. The size of a viable farm has been increasing steadily - used to be 20 acres, back in the day, now probably well over 100 acres. Average farm size is 80 acres - various forms of support make the smaller ones tick over.

In many cases the farm would not survive without secondary off farm incomes.

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/...s-2996461.html

[DCon]

The number of farmers in Ireland has decreased, but small farms have slightly increased to 2011. It would be interesting to get an explanation for that trend.

Could be sub division of existing farms as going to college/getting a job might not be seen as an option for kids that it was in the boom

[UFA]

The CAP payment system was introduced to support family farm's, but the bulk of the money found it's way into large farmers pockets through the years. The historic system that's in place now locks your payment back to 1999-2001 production levels. Back then you could stack entitlements with little owned land, some farmers claimed huge entitlements on small acreage,now rent and expand their payment hugely-- but carry little stock as payments were de-coupled from production.

The EU Commissioner is offering a flat rate payment of €270 per hectare which will benefit approx 76K farmers greatly,,however some very high recipients will suffer greatly! In Ireland there's 4bn on farm investment , equally there's about 4.5bn of off farm investment mainly by the higher CAP recipients.

The IFA do not totally depend on farmer subscriptions to fund the organisation, subs are collected in marts, meat plants,dairy coops etc,, There a wealthy organisation and a very powerful lobby group. They claim to represent 90k farmers many of which are enticed to join with discounts from FBD insurance,IFAC accountants etc.
The UFA fully support the flat rate system, it supports rural Ireland, as many supports were cut in the budget ie pillar two funded projects-- which are 50% co funded by the government.

[Sam Lord]

Welcome to the site UFA.

I was delighted to discover that that a representative organisation has been relaunched to represent the interests of small farmers in Ireland. It seems badly needed.

I was looking at the UFA website:

http://www.unitedfarmers.ie/

and was amused to see this:

The Minister for Agriculture has refused to meet with the UFA and does not even extend the minimal courtesy of a reply to our correspondence ...

Is that still the position?

[C. Flower]

The CAP payment system was introduced to support family farm's, but the bulk of the money found it's way into large farmers pockets through the years. The historic system that's in place now locks your payment back to 1999-2001 production levels. Back then you could stack entitlements with little owned land, some farmers claimed huge entitlements on small acreage,now rent and expand their payment hugely-- but carry little stock as payments were de-coupled from production.

The EU Commissioner is offering a flat rate payment of €270 per hectare which will benefit approx 76 K farmers greatly, however some very high recipients will suffer greatly! In Ireland there's 4bn on farm investment , equally there's about 4.5 bn of off farm investment mainly by the higher CAP recipients.

The IFA do not totally depend on farmer subscriptions to fund the organisation, subs are collected in marts, meat plants,dairy coops etc,, There a wealthy organisation and a very powerful lobby group. They claim to represent 90k farmers many of which are enticed to join with discounts from FBD insurance,IFAC accountants etc.

The UFA fully support the flat rate system, it supports rural Ireland, as many supports were cut in the budget ie pillar two funded projects-- which are 50% co funded by the government.

Welcome UFA. Do the bigger operations depend on CAP funds, or are they commercially viable ?

[UFA]

We lobbied a Clare Councillor who lobbied Pat Breen TD, E mails exchanged only today. Fingers crossed. C.Flower, some reap in as much as 250k , some have farms split to dounle up payments and look inconspicuous. See farmsubsidy dot org Interesting reading.. enjoy. Sorry couldn't post a link.

[UFA]

CAP in ‘ONE’ easy Lesson

The language of the CAP can be off-putting – but is such an important subject to rural Ireland it is worth persevering with. The following is the UFA guide to CAP terms that every farmer should know plus the UFA policy position on the present CAP reform proposals.
Pillar 1
Understanding the difference between the different parts of the CAP budget is the key to unravelling CAP reform proposals. There are two Pillars to the CAP – the first is known as Pillar 1 and the second Pillar 2. The “first pillar” is by far the largest and pays all direct payments to farmers, any support that is provided to farmers’ incomes under this pillar is not tied to stock numbers – payments are decoupled. In Ireland the main form of Pillar 1 funding is the single farm payment. Direct payments to farmers account for around there-quarters of the Cap budget and pillar 1 is totally funded by the EU budget.
Pillar 1 – UFA Policy
The UFA supports a flat rate per hectare payment as opposed to the historical reference date system, which in the view of the UFA locks in historical privilege. A flat rate payment of 270 euro per hectare would have the immediate effect of increasing the incomes of 82,000 farming families, some by as much as 86% of an increase in payments. One million of the 4.2 million hectares farmed in Ireland have no entitlements, so through no fault of their own thousands of farmers are deprived of any support payments.

Pillar 2
Pillar 2 spending could be summed up as the various rural development schemes part of the CAP. It is the spending under the Rural Development Regulation which is targeted at improving competitiveness, the environment and developing economic diversity in rural areas. Pillar 2 funding pays for agri -environment schemes and the disadvantaged Areas Scheme, Environmental Protection Scheme, and the Farm Retirement Scheme before it was abolished etc. Pillar 2 funding is shared by the EU and National Governments - co-funding.

Pillar 2 – UFA Policy
The UFA supports a policy of maximizing payments under the Pillar 1 of the CAP as Pillar 1 payments are totally funded by the EU budget. Pillar 2 funds are shared between the National Governments and the EU and given the stricken nature of the Governments finances and the sad experience of Governments cutting funding to or abolishing various necessary schemes such as the Farm Retirement Scheme, the UFA fears for the future of many rural development schemes under Pillar 2 of the CAP.
Greening:
Greening is a word you will hear lots about over the next few months as it lies at the heart of this round of CAP reform. The European Commission is keen to allocate more of the money in the CAP budget to producing ‘public goods’ such as enhancing the environment or tackling climate change. How this happens is up for debate – some people say that it is the Pillar 1 funds that need ‘greening’ while others suggest expanding agri-environment schemes in Pillar 2. But what it basically means at a farm level is that over the next few years farmers are likely to have to do more environmental management in order to access support payments.
Modulation:
This is the word that was dreamt up to describe the transfer of money from farmers’ single farm payments into the pot which pays for rural development measurers ie: moving money from Pillar 1 to Pillar 2. Each year a set percentage of a farmer’s single farm payments is sliced off the top and moved into the budget that pays for things like agri-environment schemes. Modulation became compulsory across the EU in 2005. The modulation rate in most EU countries is 10%.In Nt. Ireland it is between 11 and 14% .
Co-decision:
This is a word that is used in the context of making law in the European Union. The co-decision procedure means that both the European Parliament and the appropriate Council of Ministers have to agree on a proposal before it can become law. Neither institution can adopt legislation without the agreement of the other. In the context of the CAP, proposals are drawn up by the Commission, but need the agreement of the Council and Parliament in order to become law.
Cross-compliance:
Cross-compliance has become a familiar concept in Ireland since the last round of CAP reforms. It is the set of conditions which farmers have to meet in order to get their full single farm payment. Cross-compliance requirements cover public health issues, plant and animal health, the environment, animal welfare and landscape features. If any rules are broken deductions are made from single farm payments.
Decoupling:
Decoupling was introduced by the 2003 reform of the CAP and was the removal of the link between direct payments and physical production and stocking levels. This meant that farmers no longer have to keep a particular numbers of animals or grow a particular crop to secure their payments. The idea behind decoupling is to give farmers greater freedom to produce according to market demands.
Capping:
The capping of payments above a particular level of income has been a controversial feature of CAP reform proposals since the 1990’s. Those in favour of capping argue it is hard to justify wealthy or large landowners receiving huge payments. However, those against capping counter that CAP payments should not be viewed as “income support”. They say they are payments that secure a basic level of public goods from farmers while compensating producers for the higher costs associated with meeting EU rules and regulations. Opponents to capping therefore argue that the bigger the farm, the bigger these costs and it makes no sense to penalise large farms by capping payments.
Capping – UFA Policy
The UFA supports a cap on single farm payments as follows -
Payment of the full amount of per hectare payments of 270 euro up to maximal of 80 hectares. This allows in the region of 150 euro supporting new entrants, young farmers and a top up in areas where farming enterprises are legally constrained (SACS – Special Areas of Conservation).UFA would argue that the larger the farm, the larger the production costs as a means of attempting to justify the maintenance of huge payments to the largest wealthiest farmers is totally without merit.
This would allow in the region of 150 million Euro to provide a top up for farmers of up to 50 hectares new entrants,young farmers and a top up to farmers in areas where farming enterprises are legally constrained SAC's (special areas of conservation)

[C. Flower]

But are there not economies of scale in large farms ?

I like the idea of family farms and the knowledge of the local land that goes with that, but the size of farm needed to make a living has shot up over the last 20 years. A lot of farmers were let's face it relying on a spouse's earnings to make it add up. Unemployment must be hitting this kind of household hard.

Is there any way of reversing that ?

Thanks for the clear explanation, by the way.

[UFA]

Large farmers were able to approach the bank with a huge guaranteed SFP (single farm payment) Pillar 1. They could borrow vast sums for re-investment or off farm property/bank shares. The small farmer was ushered into pillar 2 schemes where he had to invest in environment measures in order to get paid,, in many cases there was a off farm income.

Many off farm income's have now dried up and more people are dependent on farming, Small farmers are governed by EU regulation which can cripple their farming practices-ie special areas of conservation,,if these constrictions were not there he may be able to stock denser/ graze longer but larger farmers are very un-constricted in their methods of farming.

Prices are rising, the pig & poultry should also benefit from CAP payments,,why not.

The family farm is sustainable but if the EU want to protect habitat and wildlife then let them pay for it.

[C. Flower]

Large farmers were able to approach the bank with a huge guaranteed SFP (single farm payment) Pillar 1. They could borrow vast sums for re-investment or off farm property/bank shares. The small farmer was ushered into pillar 2 schemes where he had to invest in environment measures in order to get paid,, in many cases there was a off farm income.

Many off farm income's have now dried up and more people are dependent on farming, Small farmers are governed by EU regulation which can cripple their farming practices-ie special areas of conservation,,if these constrictions were not there he may be able to stock denser/ graze longer but larger farmers are very un-constricted in their methods of farming.

Prices are rising, the pig & poultry should also benefit from CAP payments,,why not.

The family farm is sustainable but if the EU want to protect habitat and wildlife then let them pay for it.

Any way of doing it other than cash which is not deep on the ground at the moment ?
Tax benefits for on-farm food production business?

[UFA]

This is a Europe wide thing with four new entrant countries, not too many options in my opinion! Food prices are good for the beef producer now, Dairy not so good, pigs & poultry hammered. Cash based support is the better option paid direct from Europe, Tax benefits are dodgy as the government can pull them when strapped, which they are. It's always the smaller farmer who suffers.

[Fraxinus]

Large farmers were able to approach the bank with a huge guaranteed SFP (single farm payment) Pillar 1. They could borrow vast sums for re-investment or off farm property/bank shares. The small farmer was ushered into pillar 2 schemes where he had to invest in environment measures in order to get paid,, in many cases there was a off farm income.

Many off farm income's have now dried up and more people are dependent on farming, Small farmers are governed by EU regulation which can cripple their farming practices-ie special areas of conservation,,if these constrictions were not there he may be able to stock denser/ graze longer but larger farmers are very un-constricted in their methods of farming.

Prices are rising, the pig & poultry should also benefit from CAP payments,,why not.

The family farm is sustainable but if the EU want to protect habitat and wildlife then let them pay for it.

Hi UFA, good to see someone who can explain the different trends affecting small and large farmers.

On the habitat issue, are you saying that larger farms don't face the same restrictions regarding notifiable actions and the like?
Also is it not in all our benefit, not just the suits in the EU, to protect the environment seeing as we all depend on it for our very survival?