The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (Icos) has warned that proposed cuts to the EU’s post-2027 agricultural budget could hit farm incomes and ‘jeopardise’ the long-term viability of co-ops.
The EU is currently floating a cut in Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy allocation, which offers funds and support to farmers across the country, from €10.7bn to €8.6bn.
Icos told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine that the proposed reductions could lead to “increased uncertainty” for Irish agricultural co-ops.
It said: “Ireland’s export led food industry thrives on the basis of a stable and predictable CAP-backed farming economy”, adding that “the policy certainty that supports our export led food sector and farmer-owned dairy and mart co-ops is now at risk”.
According to Icos, this could have much wider ramifications for Ireland’s rural economy. It says the CAP is a “rural economic stabiliser and job creation foundation for thousands of Irish people”, and that any reduction in funding would discourage young people from entering the farming sector by failing to remove systemic barriers.
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The apex added that the timing comes just as the sector is being asked to meet “significantly increased regulatory, environmental, and compliance demands”.
In Ireland, more than 7% of the national workforce are currently employed in the agrifood sector, with the government’s Food Vision 2030 report outlining the importance of co-ops in this sector.
The 2021 report said: “The co-operative structure is well established in the Irish dairy sector and key farm and rural-based services’, with a majority of young farmers stating that co-ops are vital to the ‘future of Irish farming.”
