Never before have such challenges as Brexit, the CAP budget, Mercosur and climate change converged in a single year, according to IFA president Joe Healy.
Speaking at the association’s AGM this week, Healy said 2018 will be a defining year for farming.
On Brexit, he said: “We cannot have a scenario where the UK government can do as they please as regards agricultural trade with third countries.
“If the UK wants continued access to the EU market, the EU must insist that the UK will not be free to open their markets to low-standard or low-value products from outside the EU.”
Strong CAP budget
On the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), he said there must be a strong CAP budget and it must have two elements: direct payments supporting active farmers and a well-funded RDP.
The IFA president said farmers are playing their part in combatting climate change and will continue to do so.
“However, any ask of us has to be logical. It has to be practical.”
Healy said that financially, it has been a challenging year for IFA.
“For the IFA to be able to do our work effectively, we need all farmers to be making a full contribution to the association.”
IFA projects for 2018
Commission a study to quantify the importance of the national suckler herd to the rural economy.Roll out a farmer-to-farmer branch safety programme nationally.Put in place a three-year plan to close the current funding deficit in the association and return a balanced outcome.Listen to more views from the IFA AGM in our podcast below:
Read more
IFA on accounts, Fair Deal and fodder
Suckler cows and fodder dominate IFA AGM
Never before have such challenges as Brexit, the CAP budget, Mercosur and climate change converged in a single year, according to IFA president Joe Healy.
Speaking at the association’s AGM this week, Healy said 2018 will be a defining year for farming.
On Brexit, he said: “We cannot have a scenario where the UK government can do as they please as regards agricultural trade with third countries.
“If the UK wants continued access to the EU market, the EU must insist that the UK will not be free to open their markets to low-standard or low-value products from outside the EU.”
Strong CAP budget
On the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), he said there must be a strong CAP budget and it must have two elements: direct payments supporting active farmers and a well-funded RDP.
The IFA president said farmers are playing their part in combatting climate change and will continue to do so.
“However, any ask of us has to be logical. It has to be practical.”
Healy said that financially, it has been a challenging year for IFA.
“For the IFA to be able to do our work effectively, we need all farmers to be making a full contribution to the association.”
IFA projects for 2018
Commission a study to quantify the importance of the national suckler herd to the rural economy.Roll out a farmer-to-farmer branch safety programme nationally.Put in place a three-year plan to close the current funding deficit in the association and return a balanced outcome.Listen to more views from the IFA AGM in our podcast below:
Read more
IFA on accounts, Fair Deal and fodder
Suckler cows and fodder dominate IFA AGM
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