IFA insists legislation must give credit to pasture and forestry

ANY legislation which follows today’s Climate Change Bill must give credit to Ireland’s pasture and forestry, and not exceed EU carbon emission obligations, said the IFA.

IFA president John Bryan outlined the economic pressures already being experienced by Irish farmers in a meeting yesterday with Minister for the Environment John Gormley and Minister of State Ciaran Cuffe. Among other points, Mr Bryan stressed that the Climate Change legislation should not hinder the food production sought by the Food Harvest 2020 report.

Mr Bryan said: “The climate change proposals must fully recognise the many positives around agriculture, especially our sustainable model of farming and the carbon sink in both our permanent pasture and our forestry. These benefits and those accruing from bio-energy and other renewables must be allocated directly to agriculture as part of this legislation.”