Stock photo of Cavan farmers at a previous IFA protest, this time in Cavan Town.

Cavan farmers head for Dublin in 'Day of Action'

Linda O'Reilly Cavan farmers will today join their colleagues from across the country in a 'Day of Action' to fight for the future of family farming in Ireland and send a clear message to Government about the need to defend the full CAP Budget in Europe for 2013. The mass rally is expected to focus in the Merrion Square and Kildare Street area of Dublin from mid-morning as the farmers aim to make their voices heard by the politicians attending Leinster House. They will gather at Merrion Square at 11.30am and will march to Leinster House at noon, where speeches outside the Dáil are expected to last until 2.30pm. "We are appealing to farmers now to sell any cattle or sheep or not to let their milk go to the creamery on that day. We want no trading of any sort," explained Elizabeth Ormiston, the chairperson of the Cavan Farm Business Committee ahead of today's protest said that farmers are taking to the streets of the capital today to highlight the escalating costs and prize squeeze on their farm incomes. Ms Ormiston explains further: "This day has been organised to highlight the pressures farmers are under at the moment, with escalating costs eg fuel increase, feed stuffs, fertilizer etc and falling prices in some commodities such as beef, pig, sheep and poultry. Teagasc forecast a fall in farm incomes for 2012 of near 30% and people must realise that the average farm income at the moment is just under 50% of the average industrial wage." The IFA's calling on the Government to reject flat rate payments and the greening issue - which it says would have a detrimental effect on Irish farming. The association is also calling for a Rural Development Programme to include a farm retirement scheme to support the farming communities of rural Ireland. Ms Ormiston says: "The Irish government must retain 100% of Ireland's national envelope from Europe so that the SFP and Rural development measures are maintained." Those payments to Irish farmers are in the region of €1.5bn. Along with income predictions for farmers next year, the IFA says that the "disastrous" summer and escalating input costs have put massive pressure on farmers. Ms Ormiston, a suckler farmer just outside of Mullagh, has this message for Minister Simon Coveney: "In Budget of 2012 there was a 6% decrease in the overall agricultural budget, yet there was a disproportionate reduction of 17% in net funding for farm schemes. We need to remind Mr Coveney of both the economic and social importance of our most indigenous industry, agriculture, to our country. Agriculture is the main production sector of the Irish food industry and together they provide 14-15% of total employment, about 300,000 people, and €9bn of exports in this economy." Funding for farm schemes must be maintained in Budget 2013, says Ms Ormiston.