Fears farms will be 'decimated' as farmers call for further details on emissions cuts

'A farm can’t remain sustainable and try and implement cuts to that effect'

Vanessa Kiely O’Connor: ‘The next generation is not going to be interested in having anything to do with farming as it stands.’

From her experience, Alice Doyle said there are two things having a “big effect” on farm families: one is the uncertainty, “that they have no idea what’s coming down the line”; the second is the “vilification of the farming community”.

The Irish Farmers’ Association farm family committee chairwoman has said “an awful lot of family farmers are really feeling the impact” of this vilification —with farmers feeling “that they are the enemy when actually we are not the enemy”.