Three in four farmers would vote for a farmers’ party if one were formed, the latest Irish Farmers Journal survey has revealed.

Some 72% of farmers said their first preference vote would go to a farmers’ party in the next election, if it were an option.

Since the spectacular electoral success of the BBB – Farmer Citizen Party – in the Netherlands in March, speculation around the formation of an Irish rural party has been rife.

Farmers’ disenchantment with party politics is apparent throughout the survey.

As well as support for a new party, support for independent candidates is on the rise, reaching a record high of 24% of farmers’ first preference votes.

This is second only to Fine Gael, which has dropped by four points to 34% since the December survey.

Dropped

Fianna Fáil dropped three points to 23%, with Sinn Féin static at 12%. Satisfaction with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has dropped, with 46% categorising his performance as poor or very poor.

The wide-ranging survey of 1,982 farmers also found that half of them are open to switching to organic farming, with one in six “definitely” considering it.