After Ministers Michel Noonan and Brendan Howlin finished giving their speeches on Tuesday, Paidi Kelly and Patrick Donohoe revisited the same farmers to see what they thought of this year’s budget.

Shane McKeon

hill sheep farmer, Ballinaglera, Co Leitrim

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“It could have been an awful lot worse. Farmers had feared the worst, but overall it’s not too bad,” Shane said.

For Shane, the big wins are the maintaining of the disadvantaged area rates and the €1m extra of funding for the sheep grassland scheme.

“Both are very important for the sheep farmer, especially those up on the hill,” Shane said.

“The disadvantaged area payment had taken a good bit of a hit over the last few years so we were looking to keep it intact. The grassland scheme is a great support for us so hopefully the extra funding will be put to good use,” he said.

Shane said the lack of a specific hill sheep farming programme in the budget “is not ideal” but now hopes to see one as part of the CAP deal.

Brendan Hinchion dairy farmer, Macroom,

Co Cork

The Government’s decision not to make further cuts to the disadvantaged area payment is the most important decision from the budget for Brendan Hinchion.

“It’s a very difficult time for the whole country and there is a lot of negativity out there so not being cut is as good as can be expected,” he acknowledged.

He farms land that needs constant work and feels the payment will mean a return in increased output from farmers on difficult land. This year alone he spent €6,000 re-draining 12 acres which involved cleaning existing drains, putting in new drains and levelling hollows.

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“I would like to see some of the €16 million a year targeted agricultural mechanisation scheme (TAMS) budget allocated to a land improvement scheme similar to what was in place when he originally started farming,” he said.

Brendan has one year left in REPS and again is happy no further cuts have been made.

The increase in VAT rebate from 4.8% to 5% is welcome – if selling 450,000 litres a year at a milk price excluding VAT of 33c/l, the increased rebate would mean an extra refund of €297 in milk sales – “every little helps”, he said.

Des Ruttledge suckler farmer, Ballina, Co Mayo

Des said he is “particularly happy” with the introduction of the new beef genomic scheme, saying it’s a “great boost” to the sector.

“It’s a good budget overall, especially the introduction of the suckler payment. I’m particularly happy with that and I know it’ll be of great importance to the suckler herd. It needed a support after the hits it had taken,” Ruttledge said.

However, he expressed concern at the lack of an agri-environment scheme for 2014. He said REPS was always used by farmers to invest in their farms and the absence of a scheme is likely to limit farm improvements.

“I was always a fan of REPS and I also have a great love for the environment. It allowed me to carry out maintenance work around the place and enhance things like a stone wall. It’s a pity there’s a gap next year,” he said.

Ruttledge finishes a small number of animals each year and was happy to see the vat increase from 4.8% to 5%.