Every year, the EU distributes €1.2 billion in direct payments to Irish farmers, and another €300 million in rural development funds matched by the national exchequer for additional supports such as agri-environmental schemes. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) governing the allocation of this funding officially expires at the end of next month. Without CAP, food production as we know it would simply stop. The seven-decades-old policy has turned Europe’s agri-food industry into a vast semi-state body by channelling nearly €60 billion from European taxpayers to farmers via Brussels annually. In exchange, farmers must follow an ever-growing set of production standards…

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