The inaugural meeting of the new Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group is set to take place this week in Co. Kildare.
Agriland understands that the meeting, being held at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Backweston campus, will take place on Thursday (June 16).
Members of the group will be addressed by the department of agriculture, Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with time also being allocated for a discussion.
It is believed that the focus will be on the beef sector for the first series of meetings of the group.
Food Vision
Agriland understands that the group has been tasked with providing an interim report to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue by the end of September setting out how emissions from the beef sector can be cut.
A final report is due to be submitted to the minister by end of this November.
It is believed that the group will focus on the beef sector exclusively until the plan is submitted. It will then examine the remaining actions set out for both the beef and sheep sector in Food Vision 2030.
The Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group was established earlier this year by Minister McConalogue.
The group’s remit will be to advance actions set out for the sectors in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, while contributing to meeting the targets set down for agriculture in the Climate Action Plan.
It was announced last month that the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group will be chaired by Prof. Thia Hennessy.
Along with being a member of a number of research bodies, Prof. Hennessy is currently the head of the Department of Food Business and Development and chair of Agri-Food Economics at Cork University Business School.
Membership of the new group includes representatives from the DAFM; some farming organisations; Teagasc; Bord Bia; University College Dublin (UCD); Animal Health Ireland (AHI); and the EPA.