A farmers organisation has called for a universal basic income for farmers that supply their local community. 

Talamh Beo is part of a European wide movement that seeks to encourage local and sustainable food chains. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, spokesperson Fergal Anderson said the organisation is “open” to how it would be organised. 

“The key point is that it's targeted towards local food farms,” he argued. 

“We want to create a new designation for farming, that's specifically for farms that are supplying into the local community. 

“So, there's a few criteria for that; you have to be a primary producer, so they're producing eggs, milk, vegetables, fruit - whatever it might be. 

“They have a minimum turnover to ensure that they're somehow already invested in that business.” 

Cows mingle . Picture by: Alamy.com.

Mr Anderson, who farms in east Galway, said that farming is a “tricky business” and that Government support is vital for the industry. 

“Agriculture is a heavily subsidised industry, not just in Ireland, in Europe,” he said. 

“You're talking about €2 billion of money goes into the Irish food farming sector every year to support farmers. 

“I mean, the average farm payment across Ireland is about €20,000 and most of the local food farms aren't necessarily in receipt of those payments. 

“A lot of them fall between the cracks for lots of different reasons and also, it's a difficult job.” 

Mr Anderson continued that supporting local food chains is vital in an unpredictable world, where supply chains can be disrupted by conflict. 

“We're importing 83% of our food,” he said. 

“I mean, that's not sustainable on many levels, not just because of the delicacy of international supply chains, but in terms of community resilience and in terms of health. 

“I mean, it's better to be eating food that's produced by a farmer in your locality than eating something that's being produced thousands of kilometres away or more.”

Main imagre: A sheep farmer on a road in County Donegal. Picture by: Alamy.com.