The definition of a ‘woman farmer’ under the next CAP will be any individual farmer not meeting the definition of a ‘young farmer’ that identifies as a woman.
It comes as the new CAP Regulations place particular focus on promoting the participation of women in the socio-economic development of rural areas, with special attention to farming.
In a summary document on Ireland’s draft CAP plan, the Department of Agriculture has outlined that applicants must be able to “demonstrate that they are a woman” via a form of personal ID such as a passport, gender recognition cert or birth cert.
The applicant must also meet the proposed definition of an ‘active farmer’ and be registered as a woman in the Department’s Corporate Client System.
The document, circulated to the less than 100 attendees at the first public information session on Ireland’s 2023-2027 draft CAP plan in Mullingar, also outlines several other definitions which will be vital for the provision of payments.
In respect of ‘agricultural area’, it says this will be sub-divided into arable land, permanent crops and permanent grassland.
One significant change from the definition in the previous CAP is Ireland now proposes to specifically include “rushes” within the “permanent grassland” definition.
For ‘agricultural activity’, the same current provision will remain.
It is proposed there must be an agricultural activity on a parcel of land for it to be considered eligible. The activity must be either producing crops or maintaining land in a state suitable for production e.g. topping or mulching.
An ‘eligible hectare’ shall consist of any agricultural area which is used for an agricultural activity or, where the area is also used for non-agricultural activities, is predominantly used for agricultural activities, and which is at the farmer’s disposal.
From January 1, 2023, it’s proposed that up to 30pc of a parcel consisting of features that may be beneficial to water protection, climate, or biodiversity to be considered eligible.
This would ensure that for areas of certain non-agricultural features, a farmer would not have to remove them to be allowed to draw down a BISS payment, eco scheme or any Pillar II area-based payments.
An ‘active farmer’ is to be defined as those engaged in at least a minimum level of agricultural activity. However, it is proposed that Ireland will no longer apply the negative list (i.e. airports, railways, waterworks, real estate services and sports and recreational ground).
“For an applicant to be deemed active, they must demonstrate how they bear the economic and agricultural risk with regard to agricultural activity being undertaken,” according to the the draft.
It is also proposed that Ireland define a ‘young farmer’ as those aged no more than 40 years at any time during the calendar year in which s/he submits an application under Pillar I or II measures.
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Claire Mc Cormack – 08/03/2022)
WASG Calls For Paperwork Strike To Highlight Women’s Vital role On Farms
The Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG) has called on men and women to participate in a national farm paperwork strike to mark International Women’s Day (Tuesday, March 8).
The group asked male and female farmers to take a day off from farm paperwork to highlight the role of women on farms, “whether it’s milking cows, lambing ewes or doing the paperwork,” the WASG said.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA) representative of the group, Mona O’Donoghue-Concannon, said that this work is often “undervalued”.
She explained:
“All farmers know that running a farm these days would not be possible without sorting paperwork and red tape, which often falls to the woman in a farm family.”
Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that 70,000 women work on farms daily, however only 1,258 women are registered on an official partnership.
A recent WASG survey on inclusivity within the industry, in conjunction with the University of Limerick, showed several “worrying trends”, according to the group.
Over a quarter of male respondents said they had received young farmer tax relief on land transfer, compared to just 7.1% of women. This is showing that fewer women inherit farms at a young age, the WASG said.
While men responded that access to land was the biggest barrier, females cited lack of encouragement, family rivalry, child support and access to land, according to the WASG.
The survey also revealed that double the number of men received Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) payments for machinery and buildings, compared to female farmers.
Access To Schemes
Referring to the increased rate of TAMS grants of 60% for women aged 41-66 years, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) representative, Kiely O’Connor said the age cap was “disappointing”.
She added that this is an area where the WASG hopes to see further “flexibility”.
However, the group was delighted that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Minister Charlie McConalogue took on proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“Ireland was just one of two member states with specific policies to support women out of all the CAP plans submitted to Brussels, and there is no doubt that the WASG played a key role in this,” the group said.
Measures put forward by the WASG in its CAP submission last year included:
- 60% TAMS grant for women over 40;
- The option of female-only knowledge transfer discussion groups;
- A better breakdown of gender aggregated data;
- Commitment to a national women in agriculture dialogue as outlined in Food Vision 2030.
Minister McConalogue needs to address the issue of a level six requirement to access TAMS, the group said, to recognise prior learning for women who can prove they have been farming for at least three years.
“This is a barrier to women who have been farming all their lives or in partnership with a spouse or parent,” ICMSA representative O’Connor stated.
Gender Equality
Toy tractors in only boys names or only for male relatives are sold in a “well-known” Irish co-op which “purports to be supporting International Women’s Day”, WASG chair Hannah Quinn-Mulligan said.
The group considerd this “unacceptable” and chair Quinn-Mulligan added:
“A toy or real tractor cannot tell if a boy, girl, man or woman is using it. We create these gender stereotypes and we need to break them.
“It is sad to see that some companies are merely paying lip service to the idea of gender equality and jumping on a bandwagon.
“Agriculture is a brilliant sector be involved in, but barriers remain for women,” Quinn-Mulligan stated.
“We hope that the coming year will bring a sea change in Irish agriculture and companies will address the root of issues affecting female involvement in agriculture,” WASG chair Quinn-Mulligan concluded.
(Source – Agriland – Rubina Freiberg – 08/03/2022)