Last week the EU Council summit, called to agree a new seven-year EU budget, broke up without agreement. If the proposal was adopted, the CAP budget for the next seven years (2021-2027) would be €59bn less than the previous period (2014-2020). This would translate into a cut of about €100m per annum to Irish payments. When inflation is factored in, it will be a €1bn hit on Irish farmers over the period of the next CAP.

CAP payments and schemes delivered €1.8bn to Irish farmers last year. This is fundamental to the viability and sustainability of Irish farms. Dropping €100m per year would have a devastating effect for farmers who are already under huge pressure.

The EU also wants to put more emphasis on the environment and biodiversity in the new CAP. It wants farmers to do more and more, but wants to pay us less and less. It is a total non-runner and we have to fight this cut every step of the way.

The reality is farmers need an increase in payments. This must at least cover inflation and the cost of any additional asks being made of farmers. We need to get the €1.8bn up to €2bn.

Farmers should make no apology for CAP funding. We supply high-quality, safe food at affordable prices for the consumer. We contribute to maintaining the environment and supporting the rural economy.

The payments we receive are not “handouts”, as some describe them. They are payments for producing the most important product of all: food.

Greedy retailers have driven down food prices to the point where the average EU household is paying only 10% of their household budget on food.

Prior to Ireland entering the EU, that figure was nearer to 30%. The real beneficiaries of the CAP are consumers.

While most farmers would rather earn their income from the market, CAP policy has moved away from price supports towards direct payments. There is no more intervention, no export refunds, no aids to private storage. The option of devaluing our currency is no longer available to us. In terms of supporting farm incomes, the EU has made direct payments the only show in town. Farmers are facing a triple whammy of lower prices, lower payments and higher costs. To use the EU’s own buzzword, this is not sustainable. It’s wrong and we have to fight it.

Irish and EU farmers have a savage battle ahead to try and turn this proposal around. The IFA is a member of the European farm umbrella body COPA and, through our office in Brussels, we are working with them and our sister farm organisations across Europe to ignite a campaign on CAP funding.

We are in the UK this week at the NFU conference where, as well as focusing on Brexit, we will meet other EU farm organisations about an EU wide campaign. We must battle together to avoid our sector being devastated by these savage cuts.

There will be a time, very shortly, when we will be calling on every farmer to come together to give a strong message to our politicians at home and in Brussels. We will need all farmers. We must present a united front, not just in Ireland, but across Europe.