No resolution to potato stacking problem

Potato growers recently received a flat rejection of their request to have the rules relating to stacking altered to enable them to consolidate while still growing potatoes.

The letter from the Department stated that the Commission had refused to alter the rules pertaining to stacking, stating that it would take an alteration to Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 795/2004 to bring about the necessary change.

When the original decoupling rules were being drafted back in 2003 it was suggested that any acre could be used to draw down entitlements. Potato and vegetable growers around the EU saw this as a significant threat and lobbied to have potatoes and vegetables excluded from the land uses on which entitlements could be encashed. This was granted.

At that point there was not even a mention of consolidation at any level. Since then, as we all know now, stacking or consolidation has been allowed on up to 50% of the historic holding for farmers who meet specific criterion, including renting land. This was seen as a very useful option for farmers but there was a sting in the tail for potato and vegetable producers.

The interpretation of the rules pertaining to stacking means that all land that a farmer is using in the year of stacking must be used in the stacking formula. With consolidation the single farm payment is still paid in full but on fewer entitlements carrying a higher face value from the national reserve. The number of consolidated entitlements will be the number of hectares applied for in the year of consolidation.

This basically means that a tillage farmer with cereals and potatoes or vegetables will receive an entitlement for every hectare on the farm in that year. But the problem is that hectares growing potatoes cannot be used to draw down entitlements.

And because consolidated entitlements come from the national reserve they come with a 'use it or lose it' clause. The consequence would be an automatic and permanent loss of entitlements from the area growing potatoes/vegetables.

The Department pointed out in the letter to growers that farmers had asked that potatoes not be included in the list of eligible crop on which entitlements could be drawn down.

This is true but no one came back to have this matter clarified with growers after the concept of consolidation was introduced. If the present difficulties had been pointed out at that time the consensus may have changed. Reacting to the news IFA's potato chairman, John Sheridan, stated, "All potato farmers are looking for is the right to consolidate their grain and beef entitlements like other farmers''. He added, "a change in the interpretation of the regulations is all that is required to ensure that this discrimination against potato growers is ended''.

The IFA chief went on to state, "The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, must now make every effort to ensure that the case is argued as strongly as possible in Brussels and that the Commission is fully aware of the hardship that this anomaly is causing Irish potato farmers.'' Meath Grower Eddie Cogan told me that he feels that potatoes growers are being "penalised on the double'' by this interpretation of the regulation. We must now continue to rent our historical level of land just to grow our cereals where the profit level is negative at current prices. Potatoes must be removed from the 'divisor' for stacking.

Johnny Sheridan is a young farmer getting into potatoes. Because he is now a potato producer he is forced to rent twice as much land for cereals as he would need if he were allowed to consolidate.