One in four people would favour a cap of €20,000 being imposed on direct payments to farmers, an online poll of almost 800 Irish Farmers Journal readers has revealed.

The next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is likely to include a limit on how much farmers across Europe can receive in direct payments.

The move would be an effort to redistribute money from the largest farmers to the smallest.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said figures between €60,000 and €100,000 “have been looked at” by the European Commission.

Poll result

In a poll of 773 people conducted on www.farmersjournal.ie, 72% voted for a limit on direct payments of €60,000 or less, should the European Commission go ahead with plans to cap those payments.

Some 25% said the cap should be placed at €20,000 annually, while 22% opted for a cap of €40,000 and 25% voted for the limit per farmer to be €60,000.

A further 10% voted in favour of a €100,000 annual ceiling, and 7% chose a limit of €120,000 per year.

Biggest payments

In Ireland, the biggest beneficiaries of CAP funding last year were two farms operated as companies in which Larry Goodman and his family are directors.

Branganstown Farms and Glydee Farms, both in the Ardee area of Co Louth, collected €217,153 and €214,275 respectively.

The single largest direct payment recipient in Ireland last year, at €244,693, was O’Shea Farms, a 1,500ac farm in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, producing primarily carrots and potatoes. The farm also grows cereals and has a herd of spring calving Jersey-cross dairy cows.

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