The key battle for the future CAP will be securing an adequate budget, MEP Mairead McGuinness told a conference on CAP reform in Arklow last Friday.
The conference, organised by Macra and the European Parliament's Dublin office, paid heed to her words, as there was a burying of differences over the structure of payments, and a focus on retaining the current budget.
Teagasc economist Cathal O'Donoghue revealed that only 2% of Irish farms were viable without direct payments in 2009. Just over half of farms are viable when off-farm income is included.
However, this still would leave 46% - some 55,000 farmers - who would not be sustainable without
payments.
''Lower or no subsidies would without doubt threaten the future of family farming,'' O'Donoghue said. There would also be no incentive to maintain public goods.
''There will be a CAP post-2013. There is no appetite in Brussels to butcher this policy,'' said Mairead McGuinness. She said there was huge resistance to any attempt to re-nationalise the CAP.
There is a recognition that the budget, at the very minimum, must be maintained and that farmers must be adequately rewarded for performing public goods, in terms of the environment and animal welfare.
Nessa Childers pledged to work with fellow Irish MEPs in the best interests of Irish farmers. ''We often vote against our political groupings to defend Irish agriculture,'' she explained.
Macra president Michael Gowing believes young farmers are ''somewhat locked out under the current system of payment''. However, he agreed with IFA's Henry Burns that the payment method was secondary to securing the national envelope.
Henry Burns is IFA's representative on Macra's national council and he deflected attention away from the form of future direct payments, which Macra and IFA have clashed on.
He stressed the importance of using CAP to protect the EU's food production base. Farmers, especially young farmers, want to produce food, and to the highest standards. ''Agricultural colleges are full - not because young people want to collect a SFP, but because they see a future in agriculture,'' he said. The key was to ensure direct payments went to active producers.
Wicklow farmer James Hill pointed out that if all his land was in one field, his cost-base would lower, but the environmental benefits from his land would also drop. ''I need to be rewarded for this provision,'' he said. ''It is critical that Ireland knows what Ireland wants,'' said Derek Deane, urging that we sort out our priorities.
MEP Sean Kelly claimed that there was little political support for historical payments. ''The current historical model will not be retained, and we need a plan B,'' he said.
Kieran McEvoy, Macra's ag affairs chairman, criticised the suspension of Installation Aid and the ERS. ''A meaningful Installation Aid Scheme must be in the new CAP,'' he demanded.
farmersjournal.ie