“The EU’s landmark Farm to Fork Strategy will, in the not-too-distant future, be on our doorstep. It presents more questions than answers.”

That’s according to the Irish Farm Family Rights Group (IFRG).

It wants to ask farmers the following questions:
  • How is this going to affect your farm?
  • What will be required of you and your farm?
  • What environmental changes will it mean for your farming system?
  • Will this be a positive or negative initiative for your farm?

“At this moment in time, nobody seems to have the answers. It seems to be a ‘wait and see’ approach,” a spokesperson said.

“Farmers themselves should voice their opinions and let the policy-makers in this country know whether or not the Farm to Fork Strategy will have a positive or negative impact on their farms.”

‘New schemes’

He added: “In light of the announcement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that there are plans for a new type of Rural Environmental Protection Scheme [REPS] in the Programme for Government, now is a good time for farmers to express their views on such schemes.

“To this end, the Irish Farm Family Rights Group has compiled a series of questions in a brief nine-minute survey.”

To access the survey, click on this link.

As reported previously on AgriLand (on June 18), €1.5 billion in revenue from carbon taxes will apparently be set aside to (partially) fund what is being described as a “flagship environmental scheme” over the course of the next 10 years.

‘Highly-popular’

The scheme is being modeled after the “highly-popular REPS programme”; it has been referred to as ‘REPS Mark II’. Funding is mooted to come from three sources – the aforementioned carbon taxes; exchequer funding from the state; and monies from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).