A new social partnership agreement may be difficult to "sell" to farmers, the chief economist of the Irish Farmers' Association, Mr Con Lucey, warned yesterday.
Many farmers, he said, were angry that their incomes had been falling while other sectors of the economy had prospered. A decline in farm incomes of about 15 per cent is predicted for this year. The IFA, he said, was concerned about reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, inflation and issues such as animal health and the farm assist scheme.