What are farmers’ real views on entitlements and CAP direct payments?

It is a very pertinent question, given the recent admission by senior Department of Agriculture official Paul Savage that the old entitlements regime may be consigned to history from 2028 and the beginning of the next CAP.

Getting farmers to state openly what they believe regarding the allocation of direct payments is not simple.

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The Irish Farmers Journal carried some farmer views last week, but for every man or woman who talked there were three or four that were quite willing to express an opinion but certainly not interested in putting their name to it.

Invariably, these individuals maintained that their views would not be popular with the neighbours and the farm organisations when opting to remain out of the limelight.

Interestingly, the two things that almost all farmers agreed on was that the leasing of direct payments or entitlements should not be allowed, and that support payments to individual farmers should be capped at a level well south of €100,000.