IFA president Francie Gorman has been elected as a vice-president of COPA, the European umbrella group of farming organisations.

Gorman said he was looking forward to working with COPA’ s president, Italy’s Massimiliano Giansanti.

“The IFA’s membership and role in COPA is important. So many decisions are made in Brussels. As well as having our own IFA office in Brussels, being part of COPA allows us to influence overall EU agricultural policy,” he said.

Gorman added that supporting food production has to come front and centre in the next CAP. That’s just one of the many battles ahead.