Attack on the family farm

Dear Editor, Please allow me space in your paper to put on record the savage attack that the Government has made on small and medium sized family farmers in the recent budget.Westmeath farmer"s income has been cut by over two and a quarter million euro per annum under a number of different headings.Under the disadvantaged area scheme, the amount of hectares that a farmer can claim payment on has been reduced from 45ha to 34ha, this means that those farmers are losing on average in excess of €1,000 per year. The suckler welfare scheme has been cut by €40 per head of livestock. The average farm family claiming for 30 suckler cows and 150 ewes whose pre budget income would have amounted to €21,500 are now faced with their income reduced to €19,053. This is taking into consideration cuts of €1,055 for the disadvantaged area scheme, €1,200 for the suckler cow scheme and €192 for the 1% income levy cut. These cuts amount to a total of €2,447 which is a loss of over 11% of income for these farmers.The young farmer"s installation aid has been suspended. This is a grant of €15,000 which is paid to young farmers who have spent a year or more in an agricultural college. The purpose of this grant is to enable the family to defray the cost of the transfer of the family farm and the livestock and to provide a kick-start for the young farmer in the agricultural sector. Many farm families who are in the process of this transfer are now left high and dry unable to meet these costs. The early retirement scheme has also been suspended. This was a scheme which encouraged elderly farmers to retire and hand over the farm to a younger (and often better educated) member of the family. This has serious implications for the future of our agricultural industry.The farm waste management scheme has also a major funding shortfall. Over the last number of years farm families have borrowed what has amounted in some cases to thousands of euro to build new sheds, slatted houses, laid concrete aprons and build waste water tanks on their farms to comply with Irish and European environmental regulations. This can be seen from the unprecedented number of planning applications which have come before the Westmeath County Council Planning Section from the farming community. In addition to the building cost of these structures these farmers had to pay development levies to Westmeath County Council to secure planning permission. Many of these farmers now find themselves in a situation because of the recent government cuts where they are unable to meet the bank repayments on these loans.Over the next two or three years, a fundamental review of all those schemes partly funded by Brussels will be undertaken. Because of the cuts that the Government have made in those schemes, the Minister for Agriculture has forfeited the right to negotiate for an extension of or an increase in funding on behalf of the Irish farming community.Why oh why can somebody tell me is it always the vulnerable section of our society who is asked to bear the cost of the downturn in the economy. Firstly our senior citizens were targeted, then our children and teachers in our schools and now the rural community. Am I to believe that justice and equality is not part of our Government policy any more?Yours sincerely,Cllr Dan McCarthy MCC,Galmoylestown,Mullingar.