The Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, says that negotiations that begin in Luxembourg this week will be critical for the future shape of agriculture here.
On Wednesday, final negotiations are set to begin on the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy announced by the Farm Commissioner, Franz Fischler last year.
The main change, decoupling, involves breaking the link between subsidies and the amount a farmer produces. Instead, farmers will get a single annual payment.
The farm groups and the industry have been examining the implications of the changes.
There are mixed views, but the IFA has now come out in favour of decoupling - so long as subsidies to those remaining in farming.
However, Minister Walsh has insisted that full decoupling is not acceptable, though most countries would agree to partial decoupling.
