The emissions reduction target for Irish agriculture under the Climate Action Plan is set to be announced before the end of this month.

Responding to a question from Agriland at the BEEF2022 Open Day at Grange, Co. Meath, yesterday (Tuesday, July 5), Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said: “The government is working to have it completed by the end of this month.”

Under the Climate Action Plan Ireland is legally bound to reduce its emissions by 51% across the economy by 2030.

Each sector of the economy has been allocated a percentage range to reduce its emissions by.

Commenting on the percentage range for agriculture’s emissions reduction target, Minister McConalogue said: “There’s different ranges at the moment that’s been handed out to different sectors. Agriculture is by far the lowest of that range at 22-30%.”

Farm lobby groups such as the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) are steadfast in their calls to set the emissions reduction target at 22% and no higher.

IFA president, Tim Cullinan has previously said: “A target of 30% would result in significantly reduced production which could devastate the farming sector in Ireland.”

Despite this, the ministers comments would suggest that any figure between 22-30% would still be relativity low compared to other sectors.

In his speech at the event yesterday, the minister said: “We are facing into a scenario where have to feed a growing global population of 10 billion people, we need our world-class beef sector more than ever.

“No-one has come up to me since I’ve been privileged to become Minister for Agriculture and said ‘here, look, Charlie, we need to produce less food – in particular beef’.

“It hasn’t happened and I would never entertain such a notion. You are truly world class at what you do [beef farmers] and that is the production of sustainable and traceable food.

“But, we do have to make our contribution, along with all other sectors of the economy, to reduce emissions.”

Minister McConalogue also outlined that his objective in setting the target is to “continue to back farmers across the country to be productive in relation to producing food”.

“We need food; we produce it really well and we produce it efficiently from a carbon point of view and it’s something that’s going to be needed more than ever as the population increases in the years ahead.”

However, the minister also noted: “We should also, in every way we possibly can, seek to strive to minimise the emissions footprint of how that food is produced.”