Speaking at the Young Farmers Congress organized on the topic of new challenges of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2013, Baecke outlined recent analysis by the European Commission that stated “farmers younger than 35 years show 40% more economic potential, 37% more hectares of utilised agricultural area and 26% more annual working units”.
Given this high potential of the young generation, Baecke called for a “re-think” on how support is administered to young farmers saying that the “new CAP should truly prioritize young farmers with a wide ranging set of policies in the form of a Young Farmers Package. At present there are clear discrepancies with several member states choosing to opt-out of supporting young farmers in rural development policy. This is un-acceptable and goes against ensuring a level playing field for young people willing to set up in the industry.”
Addressing Ico von Wedel, Cabient member of European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos, as well as German farm leaders at the Congress, Baecke went on to say that in Pillar II of the CAP which focuses on rural development, “a revised rate of co-financing for installation aid (currently 50-50 between the EU and member states) should be put in place to ensure young farmers are targeted by all member states. The new rate should be 80/20, with the financial measure coming more from EU funds”, stated Baecke. Furthermore in Pillar I of the new CAP, a top-up payment for young farmers should be added in addition to direct payments.
The event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, is one of the world’s biggest fairs for agriculture, food and horticulture.
