DEAR SIR: Congratulations to IFA in organising a very informative meeting on Brexit in Goffs on 24 April. The speakers and format did justice to the meeting and the many hundreds of farmers in attendance.

One question I wished to ask those on the panel was: our average family farm income for 2016 was €26,000 (Teagasc 2016) which, without dairy would be almost €10,000 less. This is so much below the average industrial wage of nearly €37,000 we are told.

Today, industrial workers are looking (and some striking) for considerable increases and in some cases, increases in both pensions and bonuses.

At the Brexit meeting, everyone on the panels was targeting to minimise the reduction in both farm product prices and farm supports, the latter making up most of the farm increases (average over 60%), much of which is in compensation for the EU’s cheap food policy.

Most of those on the panels were getting increases. How do they propose to keep the family farm producing food, much of which makes up our country’s vital exports?

If the family farm income goes much lower, it will threaten their very existence. In fact, over 50% of farmers are now advising their sons and daughters to study for a profession other than farming.