Published: Friday, 11th June, 2010 3:39pm

Figures show local farm income crisis

The extent of the poverty hitting farming families was revealed this week after it emerged that Midland farmers saw their incomes drop last year by almost one-third.

The Teagasc National Farm Survey, which was published yesterday (Tuesday) revealed that the average family farm income in the Midlands region, taking in Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Longford, dropped by just over 30% last year, falling from €21,067 in 2008 to €14,690 last year.

And as their incomes dwindle more and more farmers are turning to State aid to supplement their income, with the number of Offaly farmers applying for State assistance increasing dramatically in the first three months of this year.

New figures have shown that some 100 farmers in Offaly have applied for the farm assist social welfare payment already in the first quarter of this year. This compares to 88 in 2009 and 70 in 2008.

Fine Gael Agriculture Spokesperson Deputy Andrew Doyle, who tabled a parliamentary question on the issue, said these figures show the extent of the farm income crisis.

"These figures should be a wake-up call to the Government on the future of the family farm and food production in Ireland. These figures are showing the failure of the Government agriculture policy to adapt to the changes to the support regime that has supported Irish farming for so long. The farmers are now filling social welfare forms instead of EU forms," said Deputy Doyle.

"The old system of rubber-stamping EU Directives is not going to prevent the closure of family farms. Ireland cannot depend on EU support to keep family farms in business."