The Budget was described as enterprising and supportive by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh.
He confirmed the assessment by the Irish Farmers Association that the general tax package will remove up to 5,000 low-income farm families from the tax net.
Mr Walsh said that many more farmers would benefit from the adjustment to the tax bands with the increase of allowances for husbands and wives who were working on a farm and being taxed at the standard rate.
However, the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, criticised the relative disimprovement of the position of married couples with a single earner under changes to the standard rate band.
"Farm wives working on the farm and doing a very valuable job, are being discriminated against," he said.
Mr Walsh said the changes to capital gains tax would be of great benefit to farmers. He said farmers who disposed of land would experience a capital gains tax decrease of 20 per cent.
Capital acquisitions tax would also be helpful to them because for the first time, the principal private residence will be exempt from taxation. "Farmers will be able to transfer up to £2 million [€2.53 million] of property without any capital acquisitions tax, " said Mr Walsh.
Stamp duty relief for young trained farmers has been continued and capital allowances for farm pollution control, which will be increase from £30,000 to £40,000, would be of great benefit to large and medium-sized operators, the Minister said.
Another positive factor was the Farmers VAT Flat Rate Addition, would be increased from 4 per cent to 4.2 per cent from March 1st. This scheme compensates farmers in full for the VAT they bear on their business inputs. The Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society, the umbrella body for the co-operative movement, said it welcomed the broad thrust of the Budget.
The most severe criticism came from the president of Macra na Feirme, Mr T.J. Maher, who said Mr McCreevy had ignored the problems facing young farmers.