During the course of its enquiry, the Committee held meetings in Dublin on 1 February and in London on 28 February 2005. Members of the Committee visited farms on both sides of the Irish border on 3 March 2006 and a farm in Scotland on 20 April 2006.

In Dublin the committee heard oral evidence from the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Brendan Smith TD, Mr. Alan Dukes, Chairman of the Agri-Vision 2015 Committee, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and representatives of the Irish Farmers Association. In London, the Committee held meetings with Lord Whitty, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as well as representatives of the National Farmer's Union, the Small Farms Association and the organisation FARM.

In writing this report, the Committee acknowledges that much study has been done in recent years on the future of farming in these islands. The Committee did not seek to replicate work that has previously been done. Rather, the Committee sought to highlight issues of particular concern to small farmers and in so doing identify appropriate responses to them. Brief summaries of the Agri-Vision 2015 report on Irish Agriculture and the Curry Commission report on the agricultural sector in England are provided below in order to give an overview of the current situation and the factors influencing policy development.

Many of the issues identified by the Committee were similar to those identified in 2000, such as rationalisation of the farming industry and the need to focus on niche high-quality products in order to survive. These issues are even more relevant today than they were in 2000. However, other factors, not least increased competition, the impact of the evolving EU Common Agricultural Policy and world trade negotiations have greatly increased the pressure on small farmers to evolve and meet the challenges of the new environment.

Trends and Issues

During their discussions with farmers and farmer representatives, a number of issues and trends were identified. These included

-  The introduction of Decoupling and Single Farm Payment
-  An increasing trend towards large and very small farms, and a consequent reduction in small-medium sized farms
-  A reduction in the number of full-time farmers and an increase in part-time farming
-  The increased role of the market
-  An increase in the net value of subsidies as a percentage of farm income
-  A move towards "country of origin" labelling
-  A decline in the Sugar Beet Industry
-  Changes to the milk quota system
-  Increased regulation including the nitrates directive
-  Restructuring of the industry
-  Increase in the sale of farm sites for development and house-building
-  Increased gap between sales price and price paid to farmers
-  A higher demand for organic farming and produce
-  The development of bio-fuel and forestry

Issues which emerged as specific problems for Small Farmers included:

-  Lack of funds for capital investment
-  Increase in part-time farming
-  Bureaucracy involved in applying for funding
-  Low economies of scale
-  Need to supplement farm income through diversification and off-farm activity