Farmers 'willing to do fair share' for environment - but won't 'take extreme proposals'
A significant portion of land mass changing use would be "extremely problematic not just for farmers but the wider rural economy".
Farmers are "willing to do their fair share" for the environment - but they are "not going to lie down and take extreme proposals that would destroy their livelihoods", a farm organisation has said.
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president Dermot Kelleher said there is a "lot of goodwill" among farmers to develop their farming systems to be more sustainable, and many farmers are "actively working" to improve biodiversity.
However, Mr Kelleher said there are "more and more demands to dismantle meat and dairy farming", and this "will backfire spectacularly", he added.
Mr Kelleher's comments come as reaction to the details of a draft report that have sparked significant concern among the farming community in recent days.Â
The research study titled Land Use Review: Fluxes, Scenarios and Capacity, was commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was conducted by academic researchers.
The research was funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The report is currently undergoing final preparation for publication by the EPA and is scheduled for publication in early March, the understands.
The study explored the level of change required in agriculture and land use which would be commensurate with a net-zero AFOLU (agriculture, forestry, and other land use) sector by 2050, by developing a set of indicative scenarios.Â
These scenarios suggest that achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in AFOLU by 2050 will be very challenging, the report says.
The draft report outlines that of the scenarios outlined, only the ones which included a number of measures were able to achieve net-zero by 2050, according to the author's research.
These measures included an effective abatement of livestock emissions - circa 30% emissions decoupling, along with ruminant livestock number reduction (up to 30% considered).
Another measure is organic soil rewetting, up to 90% of drained organic soils considered, along with large areas of afforestation - up to 875,000 hectares of new forest by 2050 considered, the report says.
Farmers have raised concerns around this, and any other similar reports, potentially "undermining the reputation of Irish food".
With there being mixed reaction overall to the draft report's contents, Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association president Vincent Roddy said that it is "very difficult to market Irish food as being environmentally sustainable" if there is encouragement for a "cull across our livestock sectors on the premise that this helps address issues around climate change and biodiversity loss".Â
A significant portion of land mass changing use, Mr Roddy said, would be "extremely problematic not just for farmers but the wider rural economy".
"We must recognise the enormous damage that this will inflict on many rural communities who are dependent on the economic activity generated through farming," Mr Roddy said.
He also stressed "how this is not just a battle for farmers" and he has called on "business, our chambers of commerce, and public representatives to engage proactively in protecting our rural communities and our way of life".
Macra president John Keane also said he is concerned about land being taken out of food production, which would "reduce our capacity as a nation to produce high-quality protein through the reduction in the national herd".
"Our food producers have and will always produce food, based on best practice as derived from experience, research, and science. We as a country have world-class scientists working with Teagasc on areas of new research that will deliver emissions reduction for the sector," Mr Keane said.
"We as a country produce protein in the most environmentally sustainable manner in the world, we specialise in grass-fed protein.Â
"No one is going to argue that there is sufficient protein to feed the ever-increasing population, therefore it is hard to fathom why we, who have always punched above our weight internationally, would take a conscious decision to reduce our capacity to feed the rest of the world."
Macra said that if the reduction targets as mooted are to be achieved by 2050, "who will achieve them?".
"Given that there are more farmers over 65 than under 35, it is clear that many in positions of power do not want that to change by reducing opportunity for young people," the organisation said.
