It’s a little over 12 months since Macra na Feirme became the first farming organisation in Europe to set out its vision for the new Common Agricultural Policy.
Since then, the policy has been warmly received, not just in Ireland, but across Europe, influencing the thinking of many.
Earlier this month, the European Commission officially unveiled its CAP 2020 proposals. I was heartened to see among them the stipulation that countries must set aside at least 2% of their direct payment allocation in order to assist young farmers starting out in the industry. In future, addressing the needs of young farmers and making generational renewal a reality can be achieved by ensuring all CAP measures are young-farmer-proofed. This combined with domestic policy in areas of national funding and tax is essential to make generational renewal a success.
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The Commission has highlighted the need for “new blood to make the sector more dynamic” while establishing some of the main obstacles preventing young people from taking up farming. Land Mobility has been singled out as one of these obstacles in both the Commission Communication and the report into the Implementation of Young Farmer Measures in CAP 2013. The Macra na Feirme Land Mobility service has established itself as a powerful tool for addressing the problem in Ireland and is now seen as a model that could be replicated throughout Europe and we would repeat our call to the European Commission for funding to be provided for the support of these services.
Macra na Feirme has always been vocal in its support for a more positive active farmer definition and sees this as an ideal time to address the issue. In The Future of Food and Farming, the Commission highlights the need to ensure supports are targeted towards genuine farmers, who are actively farming in order to earn their living, and we believe this must be done by putting in place a positive active farmer definition which rewards farmers for showing evidence of both their farm business and their own professional development. It is essential that the rewards for the public goods provided by farming must go to those actively farming the land and I call on the Commissioner to make this a key part of the next CAP.
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It’s a little over 12 months since Macra na Feirme became the first farming organisation in Europe to set out its vision for the new Common Agricultural Policy.
Since then, the policy has been warmly received, not just in Ireland, but across Europe, influencing the thinking of many.
Earlier this month, the European Commission officially unveiled its CAP 2020 proposals. I was heartened to see among them the stipulation that countries must set aside at least 2% of their direct payment allocation in order to assist young farmers starting out in the industry. In future, addressing the needs of young farmers and making generational renewal a reality can be achieved by ensuring all CAP measures are young-farmer-proofed. This combined with domestic policy in areas of national funding and tax is essential to make generational renewal a success.
The Commission has highlighted the need for “new blood to make the sector more dynamic” while establishing some of the main obstacles preventing young people from taking up farming. Land Mobility has been singled out as one of these obstacles in both the Commission Communication and the report into the Implementation of Young Farmer Measures in CAP 2013. The Macra na Feirme Land Mobility service has established itself as a powerful tool for addressing the problem in Ireland and is now seen as a model that could be replicated throughout Europe and we would repeat our call to the European Commission for funding to be provided for the support of these services.
Macra na Feirme has always been vocal in its support for a more positive active farmer definition and sees this as an ideal time to address the issue. In The Future of Food and Farming, the Commission highlights the need to ensure supports are targeted towards genuine farmers, who are actively farming in order to earn their living, and we believe this must be done by putting in place a positive active farmer definition which rewards farmers for showing evidence of both their farm business and their own professional development. It is essential that the rewards for the public goods provided by farming must go to those actively farming the land and I call on the Commissioner to make this a key part of the next CAP.
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