IFA President John Bryan met Taoiseach Brian Cowen to set out the importance of a favourable budget framework to achieve growth in agriculture, which he said is contributing to the economic recovery through increased exports and jobs. The latest figures show agri-food exports have risen 14% this year. Supporting primary production is key to facilitating this growth going forward.
Mr Bryan stated, “The Government has stressed the need to implement measures that will facilitate growth. They can do this by supporting agriculture in Budget 2011. While there has been a turnaround this year, farming remains a low-income sector and the recent weakening of sterling against the euro is putting competitive price pressure on food exports. Proper funding for all farm schemes is critical in stimulating production and maintaining rural jobs.”
He continued, “IFA believes that sufficient savings can be found in the Agriculture budget, under the current planned programme of expenditure, while at the same time maintaining funding for farm schemes in 2011. This will provide farmers with the confidence to invest in their businesses, and strengthen and stabilise the recovery already evident in the sector.”
Mr Bryan stated “Significant investment and restructuring in agriculture will be required if the targets of Food Harvest 2020 are to be achieved. Any budget taxation measures must impact equitably on all income earners, improve the competitiveness of the agriculture sector, encourage investment in capital and promote land transfer and mobility.”
Concluding, the IFA President said the contribution that farming is making to the rural and wider economy must be underpinned by continuing, strong Government support for all the farm schemes that are critical to rural economic activity and primary production.
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