Irish farmers encouraged to show solidarity with EU protests

The IFA has encouraged farmers to show solidarity with their counterparts in continental Europe who have been protesting over “oppressive” environmental regulations.

IFA president Francie Gorman said a meeting of the IFA National council on Wednesday night had agreed “a show of solidarity” should be held by local IFA branches on Thursday.

“Farmers here have been watching the protests across Europe. They are just as frustrated by what is happening as farmers in other countries. They feel they are being regulated out of business by Brussels bureaucrats and Department of Agriculture officials who are far removed from the reality of day-to-day farming,” Mr Gorman said.

He said the IFA would be providing an opportunity, “through our local structures”, to show solidarity with farmers in Germany, France, Belgium and other EU states.

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“Irish farmers are pro-EU, but there is mounting frustration about the impact of EU policy on European farmers, and its implementation here in Ireland. The general feeling among farmers across the EU is that ‘enough is enough’,” he said.

The IFA president encouraged farmers to join in their local event on Thursday evening.

The move comes as farmers across continental Europe stepped up their protests on Wednesday, winning a small concessionary delay on the implementation of further new rules.

European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, said the decision to delay rules on setting aside land, was “a helping hand” for the sector at a difficult time.

While there was much evidence of climate change he said it was important to listen to farmers and “to avoid the polarisation which is making any good conversation and discussion more difficult.

Farmers were at a “persistent pain point” that was “driving up the cost of production and squeezing revenues”, Mr Šefčovič said.

Farmers had been facing new regulations to keep 4 per cent of their arable land free from crop production in an effort to regenerate the health of the soil and increase biodiversity.

Alternatively, farmers could have got an exemption from this “set-aside” rule if they had used 7 per cent of their land for “catch crops” such as clover, which provide cover for the soil after the main crop is harvested.

However, under the revised proposals, farmers will not be obliged to set aside fallow land, or any portion of land for catch crops, until 2025.

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