Letters

Finger-pointing does not help farmers

Farmers are working hard to reduce sector’s environmental and climate impact

Wed Aug 09 2023 - 00:12

Sir, – Fintan O’Toole, using 2014 statistics to support a claim that farmers don’t care about environmental impact, really needs to bring himself up to date (“Farmers’ denial of climate reality has been shaped by the parties they support”, Opinion & Analysis, August 8th).

In the nine years since the 2014 Teagasc National Farm Survey, Irish dairy farming (and Irish agriculture generally), the people who make it happen and the people who support it have become very different things. Leadership has been shown by the farmers’ organisations, the industry representative bodies and the scientific research centres up and down the country which are working to address the sector’s environmental impact.

In 2023, 96 per cent of Irish dairy farmers are signed up to some sort of environmental plan or programme. Usage of low-emission slurry spreading is at 75 per cent on dairy farms. Usage of low-emission fertiliser (protected urea) was four and half times higher in 2022 than in 2019. Farmers are embracing multi-species pasture strategies – white clover, plantain, chicory – to reduce overall fertiliser usage.

Our world-leading breeding programmes, driven by Irish geneticists, are delivering healthier, more productive and more sustainable cows.

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Depending on your source, a litre of Irish milk has a carbon footprint of between 0.88 and 0.97kg CO2eq, one of the lowest, if not the lowest, of any milk produced anywhere else in the world.

It is simply untrue to say that the Irish dairy sector is in denial about its environmental impact. On the contrary, it is at the forefront of our farmers’ minds. What they need is support as they continue to make the changes that will ensure an environmentally sustainable future for Ireland’s 17,500 family dairy farms and the 60,000 jobs the industry supports. – Yours, etc,

ZOË KAVANAGH,

Chief Executive,

National Dairy Council,

Dublin 18.

Sir, – I wholeheartedly disagree with Fintan O’Toole’s opinion piece. It is a finger-pointing commentary on climate change that does not help farmers or climate action.

Your columnist is claiming the Fianna Fáil party is somehow lying to farmers and leading them to some kind of brink when Fianna Fáil has been at the forefront of helping the farming sector become more environmentally friendly.

Fianna Fáil in Government has helped almost 50,000 farm families who have signed up to the Government’s flagship agri-environment climate scheme, Acres. The €1.5 billion fund, under Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan, helps address biodiversity decline while offering income support to farmers. The party has also been assisting farmers install solar photovoltaic systems on their farm buildings as part of Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (Tams).

Most importantly what Fianna Fáil has been doing is talking to farmers, meeting farmers and listening to farmers – and that’s what’s being forgotten here. Farmers are concerned. The speed of climate change is rapid and the introduction of climate action measures has consequently also been rapid. Smaller farmers in particular are worried that some measures will have unintended effects on their livelihoods. No matter how you approach this there is going to be a lot of fear. That’s why Fianna Fáil is listening to farmers, we want to ensure smaller farmers continue to thrive while also ensuring we reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. We are trying to bring the farming community with us.

Finger-pointing does not help and it certainly does not work. Fintan O’Toole should know better. – Yours, etc,

CHRISTOPHER O’SULLIVAN TD,

(Fianna Fáil Spokesperson

on Climate Action,

Biodiversity and

the Environment),

Clonakilty,

Co Cork.