Irish farmers will “not be made fools” of by the government when it comes to proposals to reduce agricultural emissions, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has cautioned.
Pat McCormack, president of the ICMSA, said farmers were “ready to play” their part in fighting climate change but they need the support from government to do so.
The ICMSA is one of a number of farming bodies that are unhappy with the publication of the final report from the Food Vision Dairy Group, which was set up earlier this year to find ways to reduce agricultural emissions.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, confirmed today (Tuesday, October 25) that he had received the final report which contains a number of proposals on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector.
This includes an exit or reduction scheme which could result in participating farmers loosing up to €2,910/cow.
Commenting on the final report, the minister said:
“My ultimate aim is to future-proof our world-class dairy industry for the benefit or our industry, the environment and our farm families who are the bedrock of the entire sector.”
But ICMSA said there was no firm commitment from government to provide the necessary level of support in relation to the proposals set out in the Food Vision Dairy Group report.
“The absence of any firm commitment of Government financial support to date is of huge concern and it must be addressed,” said the ICMSA president.
McCormack said the association had engaged “constructively” in the Food Vision Dairy Group but had not agreed to “a list of additional costs and potential incomes losses on farmers”.
The reality, he said, was that the government could not expect farmers to sign up to an agreement where “no just transition measures” have been put forward.
“Farmers are already playing their part and are willing to do more but the costs and potential income losses are very significant and for an agreement to be concluded detailed negotiations need to take place that respect the position of farmers,” he said.
McCormack said “adequate financial resources” needed to be put in place to allow farmers to meet additional requirements.