It is totally unacceptable that the suckler sector is targeted while the dairy sector that has seen massive growth gets a free pass, according to the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA).

The farmer organisation was responding to a report published by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) earlier this week which recommended a reduction in the national suckler herd as part of climate action efforts.

Responding to the council, INHFA national vice-president, John Moran, outlined that climate change will be a major factor for the Irish farming sector as efforts are made to reduce carbon emissions.

However, Moran said: “Targeting the suckler sector will further undermine many parts of rural Ireland and fail to deliver positive outcomes in terms of climate change and biodiversity.

The report rewards a very intensive farming model that is unsustainable ahead of an extensive farming model that delivers for rural Ireland and the environment as illustrated in the Burren.

Moran questioned whether climate change had now become a “factor of economics”, adding: “I thought climate change was about the environment and doing what was best to protect and enhance our biodiversity.”

Continuing, he claimed: “The INHFA has adopted the policy of fairness not favouritism in relation to Irish agriculture as this is what we strive for.

“With this in mind we cannot understand how the CCAC can effectively write a report undermining the farmers that are actively trying to sustain the environment on land that offsets the greenhouse gas emissions of other larger so-called ‘productive industries’ like the dairy industry,” Moran concluded.