UFU submits its response to CAP

Editorial Department • Published 9 Feb 2012 13:30 0 Comments

The Ulster Farmers' Union wants to see the reformed CAP after 2013 to unlock what they see as massive potential in the local farming industry.

UFU President John Thompson said the Union's response follows a comprehensive consultation and debate with its members.

"CAP funding is of vital importance to our primary producers. The key strengths of the CAP remain its ability to support farmers to produce food, look after the countryside, create jobs and maintain rural communities. Since October 2011, we have been reviewing and discussing the proposals at length with our members. Our policy committees have considered the proposals in detail and in January well over 1000 UFU members attended our President's Area Meetings where the proposals were debated in detail. Based on the many views which have been expressed, our UFU Executive Committee has now compiled the UFU position on CAP reform and this has been submitted to DARD".

"Overall, the consensus of our members is that the EU Commission proposals are too complex and bureaucratic. We have consistently expressed our concern over this and also the distinct lack of focus on food security. The Commissions proposals need to be simplified and place more emphasis on assisting producers to supply a food scarce global market. We will be advocating the targeting of CAP support directly to active farmers, ensuring support for our primary producers. This is an industry poised for growth, with the potential to strengthen the Northern Ireland economy and our primary producers are the key to making this possible."

On "active farmers," the President said, "The Union believes that future CAP direct support should be targeted at active farmers. This will help ensure that taxpayers' money goes directly to supporting food production and economic activity; and will contribute to a positive public perception of agriculture. The direct support active farmers receive from the CAP is vital for the future viability of their businesses. Non-farming landowners we feel will also ultimately benefit from this approach because they too rely on a vibrant active farming sector seeking additional rental land to expand farm output and efficiency".

On the greening proposals, John Thompson says these measures should be included in Pillar 2 and not Pillar 1.

The proposed 30% funding level is far too high and overall the proposals are extremely complex and totally impractical. Specifically, the proposed ban on first ploughing of carbon-rich soils would have a severe impact on Northern Ireland's agriculture production systems, particularly arable, and ultimately would lead to a detrimental impact on biodiversity. If these greening proposals are pushed through then in Northern Ireland they must be applied at a regional level and not on a farm by farm basis. Northern Ireland effectively already meets EU objectives as we have predominately grass based livestock production systems with a small but diverse arable industry and lots of small fields with significant boundary hedges."

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 09 Feb 12

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