There will be no changes made to the Knowledge Transfer (KT) programme in the short term, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said.
“I have always been of the opinion that KT is hugely important, far more so than the payment itself. I appreciate that farmers have concerns over certain aspects of the KT scheme and obviously we will always reflect on those and see how we can tweak or improve,” Creed said.
However, he told the Irish Farmers Journal that changes were “not envisaged in the short term anyway”.
Listen to "Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, on KT, currency woes and the tillage crisis fund" on Spreaker.
“Bear in mind this is an RDP programme and there are restraints on us from an EU Commission point of view. But this scheme is hugely important and I would encourage farmers to embrace it,” he continued.
The IFA has already proposed a list of changes to Department of Agriculture officials to make the KT programme more farmer-friendly.
These include a reduction in the administrative burden, abolition of veterinary fees, replacement of the veterinary plan by the use of faecal sampling and a relaxation of rules around KT meetings.
Around 10% of farmers who signed up dropped out of the scheme without even completing year one.
Read more
Full Knowledge Transfer coverage
There will be no changes made to the Knowledge Transfer (KT) programme in the short term, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said.
“I have always been of the opinion that KT is hugely important, far more so than the payment itself. I appreciate that farmers have concerns over certain aspects of the KT scheme and obviously we will always reflect on those and see how we can tweak or improve,” Creed said.
However, he told the Irish Farmers Journal that changes were “not envisaged in the short term anyway”.
Listen to "Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, on KT, currency woes and the tillage crisis fund" on Spreaker.
“Bear in mind this is an RDP programme and there are restraints on us from an EU Commission point of view. But this scheme is hugely important and I would encourage farmers to embrace it,” he continued.
The IFA has already proposed a list of changes to Department of Agriculture officials to make the KT programme more farmer-friendly.
These include a reduction in the administrative burden, abolition of veterinary fees, replacement of the veterinary plan by the use of faecal sampling and a relaxation of rules around KT meetings.
Around 10% of farmers who signed up dropped out of the scheme without even completing year one.
Read more
Full Knowledge Transfer coverage
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