There has been a divided reaction within the farming organisations to one of the central predictions made in the AgriFood 2010 Report, that the number of full-time farmers could fall to 20,000 in 10 years.
The president of the Irish Farmers' Association, Mr Tom Parlon, a member of the committee which produced the report, yesterday rejected the central conclusion that the number of farmers would drop to this level.
This scenario was based, he said, on a "do-nothing" approach by Government and acceptance of the inevitability of savage World Trade Agreement cuts in the current round.
It also assumed the present EU and Common Agricultural Policy budget would be stretched to pay for the new EU member-states in the enlargement process.
"Undoubtedly there is immense income pressure on the family farms compared with the employment opportunities outside agriculture.
"However, the conclusions of the report are based on the assumption that Irish farmers will be forced to accept much lower product prices over the next 10 years," he said.
However, Mr Frank Allen, the former president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, who was also a member of the committee, agreed with the findings. "The figures are consistent with recent trends and that situation can be dealt with if proper supports are put in for both the commercial sector and the growing number of part-time farmers that will emerge." Farmers, he said, would have to start reducing overheads and costs because in the future, retailers would determine the price producers would be paid. It was therefore important that both production and processing costs were brought into line.