Roscommon ANCs

At the Roscommon county executive last week, John Hanley, county chair, highlighted the concerns of farmers in the county on the ANC review. Some 5,600 farmers benefit in the county with payments worth €11.2m. He told the meeting, attended by local politicians, that farmers in Roscommon must continue to get this vital support and improvements must be sought. More county level ANC meetings are planned. See www.ifa.ie for details.

NFU conference

IFA president Joe Healy attended the NFU conference last week where he welcomed the strong stand taken by NFU president Meurig Raymond that only food produced to the same standards as in the UK should be allowed into the UK post-Brexit. It is essential that the UK Government maintains a strong common external tariff on agriculture and food in any future trade deals and does not revert to a cheap food policy based on sub-standard imports from outside the EU.

National Reserve

IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy has welcomed the announcement that funds will be allocated for a National Reserve in 2017. The IFA has been very clear on the need for a National Reserve and has called on the minister to clarify the situation in relation to clawback on sales of entitlements. The IFA has expressed the view that reducing the clawback from 50% to 20% would have the potential to create additional funds for the National Reserve in future.

GLAS payments

Farmers are angered by the failure of the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to make a case in Brussels for all outstanding GLAS payments to be made. IFA rural development chair Joe Brady has said that unless urgent action is taken it will take months to make all payments. The IFA is again calling on Minister Creed to intervene on behalf of farmers facing urgent cashflow issues and find imaginative ways of making payments.