Ireland: Call for a multi-million aid package for farmers in budget

The leader of the Rural Independent Group of TDs, Deputy Mattie McGrath, has called for a multi-million aid package for farmers in the upcoming budget, citing a 19% drop in income for farms and nearly 40% with income less than €5,000 as revealed in the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023. He highlighted the suckler sector as particularly severe and blamed the government's delay in farm scheme payments for additional strain. Proposed measures include targeted payments for suckler cows and cattle rearing, finishing supports for beef farmers, and tripling Sheep Improvement Scheme payments to encourage young people to enter farming.

The leader of the Rural Independent Group of TDs has called for a multi-million aid package for farmers in the upcoming budget. Deputy Mattie McGrath said that the supports should be brought forward “in response to the farming crisis”. The Tipperary TD said that the recently published Teagasc National Farm Survey for 2023 “revealed a stark reality”. Farmers “Last year, farms saw a 19% drop in income, with nearly 40% reporting a family farm income of less than €5,000. “This situation is particularly severe in the already vulnerable suckler sector, which experienced a 15% decrease in family farm income, leading to the lowest-ever recorded income levels for suckler farms,” he said. Deputy McGrath said that the situation is “unsustainable” and “requires immediate attention” from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue and the government. “The Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023 provides valuable data that underscores the financial pressure farmers are ...