MEP Mairead McGuiness said individual farmers lack power, but farmers working collectively have power to influence, and they provide support to each other by being in groups, says Stephen Cadogan.

Just under 200 Irish farms will be affected by one of the main proposals to reform the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy which will set a cap of €100,000 on payments to farmers.

EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan has moved to reassure Irish farmers amid concerns over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed told the Council, “A reduced budget means reduced ambition. This is the wrong signal to send our young people, and it is inconsistent with the increased ambition outlined in these proposals.”

There have been calls for the government to oppose the CAP budget which was announced today.

A cap of €60,000 on direct payments per farm proposed by EU leaders will not happen, says Irish CAP expert Alan Matthews.

French farm minister Stéphane Travert and Ireland’s Michael Creed have joined the Spanish and Portuguese ministers in an alliance against funding cuts proposed for the CAP from 2021 to 2027.

The challenge in defending the Common Agriculture Policy is unprecedented this time around.

CAP reform efforts to better target direct payments and moves towards member state discretion in this regard were welcomed by Minister of State for Agriculture Andrew Doyle, as CAP reform in 2020 edged forward with a large majority of ministers in the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels last Monday agreeing conclusions on the reform.

Any venture to develop a combined sugar/bioethanol production facility in Ireland would have to be a viable commercial proposition.

An analysis of 325,000 responses to a three-month public consultation on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy will be presented by the European Commission to a major stakeholder conference in Brussels this coming Friday.

The results of a three-month public consultation by the European Commission on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be published online and presented by EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan at a conference in Brusssels in July.

In Macra na Feirme, we have just concluded five Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2020 consultations with more than 600 young farmers across the country.

A bill will be introduced to the Dáil later that would cap the amount of a media outlets that one person can own.

An increased use of satellite technology is set to improve on-the-spot-checks and cut administrative costs of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Pow! Right in the kisser.

Given a second chance to get tough on banks, the UK antitrust regulator outlined a cap on fees on customers who spend more than they have in their current accounts, a proposal criticised as too little, too late by consumer groups.

New Central Bank figures showing falls in the average costs of mortgage rates have done little to silence calls for more aggressive cuts in home loan rates to eurozone levels.

This week’s programme for government brought bad news for hundreds of farmers who get an annual subsidy of more than €100,000 from the EU.

A campaign group aiming to propel the high costs of mortgage rates up the election agenda was launched yesterday. It immediately won the broad support of two of the main opposition parties.

Capped water charges are set to stay in place for a decade according to reports emerging this evening.

Irish rugby star Brian O'Driscoll suffered a nasty mouth injury at training yesterday.