The government must not sacrifice Ireland’s “sustainable suckler sector” to deliver on its climate and emissions reduction targets, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) has said.
President of the INHFA Vincent Roddy made the statement as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan is set to bring the Climate Action Plan before Cabinet for approval tomorrow (December 21).
The plan will include details on how the agriculture sector will meet its 25% emissions reduction target by 2030.
It had been speculated that this will include a 10% cut in cattle numbers, however a mandatory cull was dismissed by the agriculture minister yesterday (Monday, December 19).
“Our suckler sector is not the problem when it comes to GHG emissions and pointed to the fact that the sector has seen a reduction of 18% over the last ten years.
“In our engagement with the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group we outlined on a number of occasions our opposition to specific proposals, most notably around a voluntary reduction/exit scheme and proposals to reduce the age of first calving and slaughter age to 24 months,” said Roddy.
The president said that the association is “well aware of ongoing concerns around biodiversity loss and water quality” and agreed that these must be considered in future plans around farming practices.
However, he added that the above proposals would “undermine the [suckler] sector by imposing unrealistic targets and creating reputational damage to the marketing of naturally reared suckler beef in Europe and beyond”.
Suckler farming is largely positive in delivering on biodiversity, and provides ” vital economic contribution” in many communities dependent on farming around the country, according to Roddy.
“All of these facts must be considered before anyone looks to drive further reductions in our suckler herd.
“It may be more advisable to address issues pertaining to what is a small cohort of farmers (predominantly dairy) that are operating multi-platform units with excessively high stocking rates,” he stated.
He concluded by stating that suckler farmers cannot be expected “to pay for the sins of a small number”, and called for action on farms which have a stocking density above the legal limit per hectare “through a planned approach over the next two years”.