A draft recommendation paper of the Food Vision Dairy Group will be presented for discussion at the group’s next meeting on April 11.
The document will be prepared by the team of advisors working with the group’s chair, Prof. Gerry Boyle.
The fourth meeting of the Food Vision Dairy Group took place earlier today (Monday, March 21) and featured presentations from Bord Bia, Animal Health Ireland, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) and Dairy Industry Ireland.
Speaking to Agriland after the meeting, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president, Pat McCormack, confirmed that all relevant stakeholder groups had now presented their ideas.
“The opportunity to have another roundtable discussion involving all the bodies in attendance was also taken,” he said.
“It is believed that the paper presented on April 11 will be a draft report, which all the organisations represented on Food Vision Dairy Group will have an opportunity to amend.
“It is also my clear understanding that the final document submitted to the agriculture minister will constitute a recommendation, or series of recommendations, from the group.”
McCormack made it clear that ICMSA’s policy agenda remains unchanged. The organisation will not accept the introduction of fixed restrictions on milk output.
He added:
“There have been increases in Irish dairy output since the ending of milk quotas. But this was an inevitable outcome, given that expansion has been the only way of delivering sustainable incomes for Irish dairy farmers.
McCormack wants to see the introduction of meaningful climate-change legislation in Ireland, which actually recognises the vitally important role of farmers in this regard.
The ICMSA president added:
“The government must introduce a realistic dairy calf-to-beef scheme. What’s on the table at the moment is not fit for purpose.
“There is also a need to further incentivise the uptake of milk recording in this country.
“But above all else we must let science play its part in delivering a sustainable future for the Irish dairy sector.”
McCormack said it would be fundamentally wrong to agree a vision document at this stage, that does not make provision for the undoubted science-driven and technological breakthroughs that are coming down the track.
“These are the key facts that must be communicated to the minister, where climate change is concerned.”