Climate and farm growth plans: Spectacular change is unavoidable

When Food Harvest 2020 (FH2020) “a strategy to chart the direction of agri-food, forestry and fisheries for the next decade” was published in July 2010, it was an ambitious declaration.

This “industry-led strategy” was to be the bedrock of spectacular plans to “increase the value of primary output of the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sector by €1.5bn, a 33% increase compared to the 2007-2009 average”.

In turn, this would improve “the value added in the sector by €3bn. Achieving exports of €12bn... which is a 42% increase compared to the 2007-2009 average, increasing milk production by 50%; adding 20% to the value of the beef sector.”