Latest news with #INHFA
Agriland
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Agriland
State criticised for purchasing land for rewilding amid housing crisis
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been slammed for purchasing land for rewilding during the housing crisis. The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has called into question what it said is the 'expressed policy of government ministers and our Taoiseach [Micheál Martin] to use state money in the purchasing of lands to increase the size and number of national parks'. Vincent Roddy, the association's president, said: 'It is absolutely mind-boggling that we have people inside the Department of Housing actively looking to purchase farmland for rewilding while over 15,000 people remain homeless, including 4,600 children. 'With numbers such as this you would expect the government and this department to focus on acquiring land to build houses or maybe developing existing state land for housing,' Roddy added. He went on to outline what he said was the impact of those land purchases for farmers and their communities. 'We are now seeing the state actively compete against farmers in the purchasing of land, which is having a detrimental effect on access to land, especially for young farmers, while also undermining economic activity in these communities,' Roddy said. The INHFA president also claimed that this policy is 'at variance' with the Irish constitution, which Roddy said 'outlines the need to retain as many families as is economically practicable on the land'. The wording of the constitution in this regard is: 'The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that there may be established on the land in economic security as many families as in the circumstances shall be practicable.' Roddy called for 'an immediate reassessment' of the current policy, amid 'growing concerns around food security and ongoing rural decline'. 'Through active engagement with farmers we can deliver much better outcomes in terms of economic and environmental sustainability while ensuring there is more funding available to address the housing crisis,' he said.
Agriland
a day ago
- Business
- Agriland
ACRES payments ‘could be too little, too late' for future schemes
The issuing of delayed balancing payments for 2023 and 2024 under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) 'could be too little, too late' for future agri-environment schemes, one farm organisation has warned. As the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine works towards getting ACRES payments out to farmers, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has said that the hold-up to these payments has caused 'irreparable damage' to both ACRES and similar schemes that might exist in future. Pheilim Molloy, the national chairperson of the INHFA, said that while recent progress made in getting balancing payment out is positive, it has nonetheless left many farmers in an 'unacceptable' position. He said: 'As we move into June and past the half point of ACRES programme we need to recognise that there are over 1,000 farmers that applied to join ACRES in November 2022 still awaiting their balancing payments. 'For these farmers and many more that have only been paid in recent weeks, the wait for their payment in addition to clarity on their overall payment is unacceptable.' 'Beyond these 1,000 farmers there are over 5,400 farmers still awaiting their first payment for 2024 which [amounts] to 10% of the 54,082 participants in the ACRES programme,' he added. According to Molloy, this has left these farmers 'in a vulnerable financial position, due to uncertainty around payment dates and the balance of their overall payment'. 'This will leave farmers reluctant to join future schemes, especially where there isn't a clear indication of what payment farmers can expect to get, as well as definite timelines around these payment dates,' the INHFA national chair added. The INHFA representative also cited concerns around habitat scoring for commonage farmers in the Co-operation Project (CP) areas. For these farmers, landscape actions (LAs) were included to assist farmers on improving their habitat score, but as of yet none of these actions have been made available. 'This is another example of farmers losing out due to the failures of the department, which has indicated that these actions will not be available until the second or third quarter of this year,' Molloy said. 'Based on ACRES deadlines it is reasonable to now assume that these LAs won't be available until at least September which will be too late to positively influence the habitat scoring that has already started on these commonages,' he added. 'For these farmers and indeed all other farmers in ACRES, the inability by the department to deliver on payment dates and the actions to support farmers will be the defining element of the scheme, as well as being a major factor in their decision to partake…in any future agri-environment scheme,' Molloy said.
Agriland
20-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Protests over CAP overhaul to get underway today
A number of protests will get underway in Dublin and across Europe today (Tuesday, May 20) in relation to proposals to streamline the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) into a single fund. Launched in 1962, the EU's CAP is a partnership between agriculture and society, and between Europe and its farmers. It aims to: Support farmers and improve agricultural productivity, ensuring a stable supply of affordable food; Safeguard European Union farmers to make a reasonable living; Help tackle climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources; Maintain rural areas and landscapes across the EU; Keep the rural economy alive by promoting jobs in farming, agri-food industries and associated sectors. The CAP is a common policy for all EU countries and is managed and funded at European level from the resources of the EU's budget. The European Commission is understood to be planning a radical overhaul to the EU budget – the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – as part of which the commission is planning to merge its various funding programmes into a smaller number of funds, which would be allocated all together to member states. Member states would then outline how they plan to use the funding, which the commission would then approve. This could not only see the merging of funding for both pillars of CAP, but potentially also the end of ringfenced funding for CAP. Today, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) alongside the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) will stage a 'flash protest' at the European Commission offices in Dublin city. The IFA said it wants to 'warn the commission against stripping away the CAP budget in favour of a single fund approach'. The Dublin protest will coincide with other protests being organised across Europe by other farm organisations. Copa Cogeca, the umbrella organisation representing farmers and agricultural cooperatives, confirmed that the 'pan-European flash action' will take place in Brussels. The organisation said it will support the protest which is being organised by Belgian national farmers' organisations, FWA/UAW and BoerenBond. The demonstration coincides with the Annual EU Budget Conference 2025 where the next long-term union budget will be discussed. Agriland will bring you all the latest from the protest which gets underway at 9.30a.m Dublin today. CAP Meanwhile, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has called for the upcoming CAP programme to ensure the family farm model is protected while delivering fair and achievable outcomes for its farmers. INHFA president Vincent Roddy has outlined the importance of CAP support, especially for suckler, beef and sheep farmers where income volatility and low margins have seen a continued decline in livestock numbers and farmers. Roddy stressed: 'It is vital there is a ring-fenced CAP budget that recognises the critical role of our farmers in terms of food production, landscape management and supporting our rural communities. 'Any new CAP programme must promote sustainable agricultural practices that are carried out on our extensive grazing model that benefits both production and the environment.' He also added that the new CAP needs to ensure farming is more attractive for the next generation. 'The [CAP] budget must recognise the increased demands that have been made on farmers and also, restrictions that continue to reduce output and income,' Roddy continued. The INHFA president stressed the need to continue with the convergence of payments while also increasing payments on the first 30ha through a more ambitious Complementary Redistribution of Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) model. 'This will help protect the smaller holdings dominated by suckler and sheep farmers and the wider rural communities that are so dependent on these sectors,' he explained. With regard to proposals around conditionality, the INHFA has said that the terms and conditions must include a satisfactory yellow card system that gives farmers a chance to address any breach of the conditions.
Agriland
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Agriland
Farm org claims assurance on nature restoration is ‘misinformation'
A farm organisation has claimed that the assurance that there is sufficient state owned-land to meet Ireland's obligations under the Nature Restoration Law is 'misinformation'. The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has called on Minister of State for nature, Christopher O'Sullivan, to 'clarify the ongoing misinformation relating to the suggestion that the state has the necessary land to deliver on our obligations under the Nature Restoration Law'. According to INHFA president Vincent Roddy, some public representatives 'continue to push the narrative that the state can deliver the necessary land to meet all our obligations'. Roddy claimed that this is 'clearly not true'. 'This narrative is clear miss-direction because the state obligation they are referring to only relates to commitments for rewetting detailed under article 11 of the Nature Restoration Law and will include approximately 100,000ha,' he said. 'While this is helpful, we must understand that this is a tiny element in the overall land area and commitments required, under a law that will impact at least 1.6 million hectares,' Roddy added. The INHFA, along with other farm organisations and stakeholders, are currently part of an ongoing process to develop a nature restoration plan for Ireland, which is required under the law. The organisation's president called for 'honesty' in this process. 'Starting this process on a lie as obvious as this is a major red flag and does get you wondering what else is being spun, lied about or withheld,' Roddy commented. According to the INHFA president, the state may own enough land to meet rewetting obligations under Article 11 of the Nature Restoration Law, but Article 4 of the law covers restoration of existing habitats and re-establishment of lost habitats, which, Roddy suggested, will take in more land than the state can provide for itself. 'Farmers, landowners, and rural communities continue to be misled through clever manipulation into believing that there isn't a direct threat to their property,' he claimed. 'It is time that the minister publicly clarifies that the state had not near enough land to meet all the obligations that will be required though the NRL,' Roddy said.
