Alternative land uses team to be set up

A PROJECT team to promote alternative land uses is to be set up by the IFA, its president Padraig Walshe told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture yesterday.

Mr Walshe said the work of the team would form part of a blueprint for the future of Irish agriculture that the IFA is in the process of completing.

He said the IFA blueprint would be launched within weeks after thorough discussions at next week’s executive council meeting.

Mr Walshe said the establishment of the team underlined the importance of identifying alternatives for tillage farmers that could give them a decent income.