FARMERS need the expertise of chartered accountants now more than at any time in the recent past, according to the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Mr Leo O'Donnell.
He was speaking at a function yesterday to announce the involvement of the institute in the National Ploughing Association Championships in Carlow for the first time. Mr O'Donnell said farmers would have to make investment decisions with considerable care, particularly if repayments extended beyond the end of the decade.
"Farm budgets will have to take account of the probability of lower margins in the next decade and also some limitations on direct payments, particularly for the larger, more commercial farmer," said Mr O'Donnell.
He said freer trade in agriculture was being driven by the outcome of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and would be reflected in the CAP decisions over the coming years.
After 2001 the new World Trade Organisation framework is likely to reduce protection and support for agriculture further and EU enlargement will also put severe pressure on the CAP.
Mr Frank Masterson, a chartered accountant and farmer, said there were now more than 500 chartered accountancy firms outside Dublin city placed to serve farmers in a world in which change was inevitable.
He said he thought the pace of change under the new World Trade Organisation would be slow.