Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and fellow travellers in Oxfam, Trócaire and among the Catholic bishops are preaching misinformation, writes Pádraig Walshe.
Farming is by far the biggest and most important industry in rural Ireland. That's why I am determined to highlight the importance of farming and food production to the general public and policy-makers.
Ireland's extraordinary growth over the past decade - which has doubled the size of the economy - has affected farmers in many ways and has transformed living standards and Irish society.
While the contribution of the farming and food industry is now proportionately lower than in the past, the value of farming and food production has never been higher. Our industry is the mainstay of the economy outside Dublin and three or four other major urban centres.
Farming and the food industry, and the service employment depending on agriculture, provide some 320,000 jobs. Some commentators and politicians tend to overlook the reality that farming supports 20 per cent of all jobs outside the public sector.
Our high-quality farm produce is the bedrock that supports the food processing industry, which is Ireland's largest indigenous export sector, worth more than €7 billion to the economy in 2005.
Farmers are consumers as well, purchasing inputs and services in the local economy worth €2.5 billion last year. In 2005, Irish farmers also made capital investments of over €500 million in developing and upgrading their farm enterprises.
Agriculture still makes a big contribution to this economy. I want to deliver this important message to those outside farming. With the right policies and support, farming can adapt and develop and will continue to make a major contribution to the modern Irish economy.
In recent years, farmers have had to adjust to the relentless downward pressure on product prices. For many, the only response to low-farm incomes was to find off-farm employment.
However, more than 60 per cent of farmers are full-time and are responsible for 80 per cent of farm production. Quite clearly, the majority of jobs and exports in the food industry are dependent on maintaining a strong core of commercial farmers.
Farmers are also the major custodians of the natural environment, including our inherited landscapes. This role is only sustainable if farmers are earning a viable income.
Farmers and consumers in Europe have one thing in common: Irish farmers meet the most rigorous health and animal welfare standards in the world. Irish and European consumers have the full benefit of the high standards that we deliver.
The delay in introducing compulsory country of origin labelling is unacceptable. We want to see the new regulations in place by Easter and we are insisting on proper policing of the labelling requirement at retail, hotel, restaurant and catering level, with stiff fines for unscrupulous operators who try to deceive consumers.
The EU summit in December agreed the EU budget up to 2013, but the heads of government also decided that the EU Commission would review all spending, including the Cap (Common Agriculture Policy) and the financing of the EU in the longer-term, and report back by 2008/09.
In the past year, the Cap has been subjected to an onslaught of criticism, led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and their agent in Brussels, Peter Mandelson. Their fellow travellers in Ireland - Oxfam, Trócaire and, disappointingly, some of the Catholic bishops - preach the same misinformation.
We know that this criticism is unfair, simplistic and self-serving, but unless farm leaders in Europe present the counter-arguments to European governments, to the EU Commission and the general public, our position will be continuously weakened.
In the next two years, I am dedicating myself to making a determined case at home and in Europe in defence of our agricultural supports in the commission's review, and a European model of agriculture long after 2013. In preparation for the review of the Cap in 2008/09, I intend to work to prepare a new vision for agriculture and food production in Ireland and Europe.
When this is agreed, I intend to engage in a campaign of persuasion with other European farm organisations, the EU Commission, MEPs, and of course the Government, on the vital role of an EU agricultural policy with common funding after 2013.
We have strong arguments in support of a Cap in Europe after 2013:
In a highly developed European society, food security and food safety must be of strategic importance;
The protection of the natural environment and maintenance of a viable rural economy are possible only if farmers have a reasonable income;
All other developed high-cost countries of the world such as the US and Japan continue to have an agricultural policy and, if we did not have a common policy in Europe, member states would need nationally-financed agricultural policies.
There is no doubt that the recent World Trade Organisation negotiations will have very serious long-term implications for Irish farmers.
We have all seen the impact of globalisation on traditional Irish industries - those that were unable to adapt are gone. Make no mistake about it. The Hong Kong agreement that Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan so enthusiastically defended last month is a major step towards globalisation for Irish farmers from 2008.
As I start a four-year term as IFA president, one thing is certain - the competitive pressure on farmers will continue. We will have to find new opportunities and adapt to the changes. But we can only do that with responses to those pressures.
Pádraig Walshe is the new president of the Irish Farmers Association