This article is from page 32 of the 2012-01-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
CLARE farmers have been described as “sitting ducks” for more cutbacks as the future of the Disadvantaged Areas Payment was thrown into further doubt.
The ICSA last week warned that the repeated cuts in locations classified as disadvantaged areas, such as Clare, would create anomalies in the system for local farmers.
“The Government should not see the Disadvantaged Area Scheme as a sitting duck for cutbacks. Successive cuts to the scheme by successive governments betray a failure to understand the importance of the scheme,” said ICSA President Gabriel Gilmartin.
“The proposal to reduce DA payments to farmers with mixed holdings of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged land would open a minefield of unfair cases. For example, this penalises the farmer whose own farm is 100 per cent disadvantaged but who has taken the initiative of renting non-disadvantaged land, usually in an effort to expand his herd or flock or ensure adequate winter fodder.”
The ICSA president also described the new 80km rule as contentious but he supported the concession that means that it won’t apply in the case of farmers whose main holding is disadvantaged.
“This depends on what is meant by main holding. My view is that the main holding should be determined by where the herd number is established rather than by the size of the holding,” he said.
Meanwhile, rising fuel prices have the potential to cut any growth in the local farm sector which has taken place – according to IFA president John Bryan.
“Road fuel prices have increased by almost four per cent and agricultural diesel prices by 2.5 per cent since the start of the year, just 25 days ago,” he said.
“In the last two years, agricultural diesel has gone up by a massive 54 per cent, while road diesel has increased by almost 35 per cent. Ireland’s competitiveness is being increasingly eroded because of our over-reliance on expensive road haulage and our distance from our main markets.”
The IFA President said policy- makers must examine opportunities to lower haulage costs through increased transport weight limits and trailer length for agricultural and heavy goods vehicles. In addition, the Government must move to put viable supports in place to get our bio-energy industry established, as Ireland is being left behind the rest of Europe.