Analysis undertaken by IFA outlines agriculture’s importance to the economy at county level, and underlines the critical importance of farm schemes in underpinning agriculture’s continued contribution to economic recovery.

IFA president Eddie Downey said it is vital that funding for the Rural Development Programme (RDP) is delivered in October’s budget: “The analysis clearly shows the importance of farm schemes and direct payments for farm income. The Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney must fight for the allocation of €500m of funding for RDP farm schemes in the budget at the Cabinet table in the coming weeks. This funding will be critical to ensure the opening of the GLAS scheme, with payments in 2015, full payment of the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, discussion group funding and funding for on-farm investment across all sectors through the TAMS.”

IFA chief economist Rowena Dwyer said the analysis, which is based on the most up-to-date data available from the CSO, Department of Agriculture, Teagasc and Bord Bia, demonstrates how important agriculture is to rural economies, and the role it can play in mitigating the threat of a two-speed economic recovery.

“The analysis undertaken by the IFA highlights the importance of a strong agriculture sector in each county, providing employment and generating output not just in farming itself but in the thousands of regionally-based jobs dependent on and linked to the sector,” she said.

IFA Rural Development Committee chairman Flor McCarthy said: “Despite its strong economic contribution, the agriculture sector remains a low-income sector, with many farmers, particularly in the livestock, tillage and potato sectors, experiencing a difficult year. In this October’s budget, it is critical that the Government recognises the importance of agriculture and provides support to enable it to continue to deliver employment and export growth.”

View the full analysis and county breakdown at www.ifa.ie.