Farmers’ fears for the future of their CAP payments are mounting as the December target for political agreement on the next EU budget comes into view.
A compromise has yet to emerge that protects 2028-2034 farm funding, leaving farm payments in limbo.
Amid growing concern around the 2028 farm payment uncertainty, the Irish Farmers Journal crunched the numbers on what a ringfenced budget decrease of 24% could mean for three farmers’ pockets.
A typical young farmer, farmers with above-average entitlement values and an extensive farmer are all facing farm payments shocks under the current proposal.
These figures assess the impact that a full flattening of payments could have in the proposed Degressive Area-Based Income Support (DABIS) scheme, as well as the possibility that budget cuts could neutralise any increase to young farmer payments.
Diminished CAP
The figures come amid mounting farmer realisation that a severely diminished CAP funding pot would mean that preserving farm income support payments will require the gutting of other schemes.
For example, in the case of the Areas of Natural Constraint scheme (ANC), it could mean scrapping it entirely.
Attempting to avoid an income support blow with a decreased budget would mean curtailing funds paid out under beef and sheep welfare schemes, TAMS and ACRES.
The analysis also shows that the impact of merging eco-schemes into any future ACRES scheme will depend on how easily farmers will qualify for whole-of-farm agri-environmental payments to bridge the €67/ha eco-scheme gap.
The president of COPA COGECA flew into Dublin on Wednesday for CAP budget talks with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the IFA, ahead of next week’s Council of the EU meeting.
