The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) has raised concerns that a further derogation cut would “severely compromise the competitive edge” of the Irish grass-based dairy system.
ICOS president Edward Carr expressed his concern at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine this evening (Wednesday, February 28).
Today’s meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the third in a series of committee meetings to discuss Ireland’s nitrates derogation.
Following the series of meetings, the committee will compile a report and send it to the European Commission to make a case for Ireland maintaining the derogation.
ICOS
“A further reduction to the derogation will drive farmers to a more global, indoor type of dairy production, with unfavourable economic, social and environmental consequences,” Carr said.
ICOS calls on the government to form an inter-departmental taskforce led by the Department of the Taoiseach to evaluate the economic and social implications of any further derogation cut.
Additionally, ICOS said that the government should commission a “comprehensive” impact assessment to “fully and really” understand the implications of a further reduction.
ICOS presented an analysis by Prof. Michael Wallace of University College Dublin (UCD), which indicates that dairy farms in Band 3 could face a net margin cut of -56% or €983/ha.
ICOS told the committee that “significant government intervention” is needed to ensure the future viability and environmental sustainability of the Irish dairy sector.
The organisation’s president told the committee that co-ops and farmers are “deeply invested” in advancing farm sustainability, with water quality as their “foremost concern”.
The ICOS delegation at the committee meeting today was led by Carr, ICOS dairy committee chair Niall Matthews and agri-food policy executive Eamonn Farrell.
Nitrates derogation
ICOS warned that a reduction in farm profitability and changes to dairy production practices could have “profound negative impacts” on the downstream dairy processing industry.
A further cut to the derogation would also negatively affect sectoral cohesion due to milk supply shortages, and the broader social and environmental landscape, the organisation said.
Carr also urged the government to protect investments made by farmers, the processing sector, and the state in the Irish dairy industry by “securing the nitrates derogation’s future”.
“A science-based approach indicates that the time lag between nitrogen surplus losses and changes to water quality can vary between months to decades, due to groundwater pathways.
“The government and European Commission must acknowledge that the range of new actions undertaken by farmers will require time to be implemented,” Carr said.
He said ICOS believes the government should prepare a “strong science-based document”, in advance of the next negotiations and with input from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A “compelling case” is needed to map out the “most effective” mitigation measures per catchment and to provide “realistic” time frames for actions adopted by farmers, he added.
Further, ICOS calls on the Oireachtas committee to endorse the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group’s proposals on slurry storage, including 70% grant aid for farmers.
Carr also highlighted the need for funding for a national slurry storage project under the Climate and Nature Fund, and to prioritise resources for advisory services regarding water quality issues.