Debate: The role of farmers as enablers of the green transition and a resilient agricultural sector
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 MAY 2023
Speaker: Mairead McGuinness
Language: EN

You will have watched me take copious notes because I was a journalist. In fact, I was one of those journalists who broadcast on the national broadcaster, RTÉ, showing farmers how to drain the land, rip out hedgerows, use lots of fertiliser to ramp up production, because that was public policy at that time, decades ago. Before I left journalism, we had turned the page and I was producing programmes showing farmers how to plant hedgerows, stop draining land and how to be more careful with inputs. So public policy changes all the time and we, as policymakers, need to explain better why these changes are necessary. If you look at CAP reform, today the new CAP will actually support natural habitats, because in the past there were no payments on these habitats and farmers naturally removed habitats in order to qualify for payments. We’ve changed that and rightly so – not before time. How farmers ‘feel’: I heard this word used and I think we cannot ignore feelings, because perception is reality for those who feel. The words ‘respect’, ‘dignity’, ‘value’ were used. I take those words to heart because I think we in the Commission fully respect the dignity and we value our farmers. But if there is a sense that that is not the case, I hope it’s heard loud and clear in this Chamber on behalf of the Commission. I do acknowledge the sense of frustration because – hands up – I live on a farm, with a farmer. And he doesn’t just tell me his own woes, but he talks to me about the neighbours. The farms where there is no one interested in taking over the farm in our parish, in our community. The young farmers who are doing their best to adapt to the new techniques and want support to do it. And maybe the older ones – perhaps like himself – who remember being told to do different things and are a little bit confused by what we’re asking them to do. So thank you to those who called for this debate. Maybe we needed it months ago – perhaps to clear the air. And the one thing I would ask us all to focus on today from this debate: be very focused on our shared objectives, because the vast majority of the speakers spoke about wanting a sustainable agriculture, a sustainable countryside, farmers that are free to farm and do it in a way that is close to the climate and the environmental objectives. If we keep the focus on where we want to go, let us together find a path. I said, and I repeat, the Commission is listening very carefully to all of the contributions and the concerns. On nature restoration, we have an impact assessment. The concerns about 10% of the area committed to nature restoration – it’s not an objective overnight, perhaps over time. But we are committed to accommodating those who have real concerns about it being implemented in a blanket way. Agriculture is complex because it’s about people, it’s about place, it’s about culture, it’s about society. I – for my sins – studied agricultural economics. And, I can tell you, that’s not simple either. But I learned two things there. One is that if you want to see change happen, you need to use the tools of sociology, of support, of encouragement. Not finger pointing – I agree so I’ll put my hands down. I won’t point any fingers because I want our farmers to be facilitated in the change we are asking them to make. And secondly, around farming, many spoke about disappearing farms and farmers. They don’t disappear; farmers make some choices. Many are forced to make choices to farm elsewhere. Some farm part time. I think there is a question as we evolve in developed societies, there are usually less and less farmers, and that is an issue for us about how we are going to be sustainable. So we need to think long and hard how we accommodate the choices young people make, if they earn better incomes elsewhere. It’s something that we can work on together. And finally, I just want to say that these notes that I have taken and highlighted will be brought back to my colleagues in the Commission because, frankly, our rural areas are so important to delivering the Green Deal that you have all signed up to. And I believe that if we listen carefully to each other and to farmers and rural communities, we can find a way forward that allows them to farm with dignity and allows them to feel they are respected fully. And frankly, we’ve become very comfortable, because when the CAP started out a journey, there was hunger, and farmers responded and they fed us, so we never had to worry. So now with that spirit, I hope this House will work with the Council and Commission to deliver a new Green Deal for farmers that they can take ownership of and be proud of.