A new protocol on farm inspections has been agreed between the Kilkenny executive of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and Kilkenny County Council.
It follows a meeting which was hosted on the farm of Eamon Sheehan, who is the Kilkenny representative on the IFA’s National Environment Committee.
According to the IFA, the meeting showcased the “extensive measures” being undertaken to protect watercourses and enhance biodiversity, while producing high-quality food.
The protocol follows negotiations between the council and Kilkenny IFA in recent weeks and sets out an agreed set of principles for farm inspections carried out by the local authority, the association said.
Under the new National Agriculture Inspections Programme, county councils are required to carry out environmental inspections on farms. These are separate from inspections carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other agencies.
The IFA had previously raised concerns around farm inspections, in particular the need for an appropriate notice period in advance of any inspection.
Kilkenny IFA chair Brendan Hickey said the agreement was significant for what it provides for farm families in the county.
“Farm inspections under the new National Agriculture Inspections Programme have raised concerns for farmers and this gives a degree of clarity,” he said.
“The meeting was a great opportunity for IFA to demonstrate to our county councillors the level of work on water quality and biodiversity.
I think everybody that attended came away with a much better understanding of how much progress is being made in these areas,” Hickey added.
This is not the first agreement of its kind between the IFA and county councils. Back in March, Wexford County Council and the IFA county executive there agreed a similar protocol.
That, too, followed a period of negotiation between Wexford IFA and the local authority.
More recently, in August, Cork County Council said that it had given a commitment to provide advance notice to farmers ahead of scheduled farm inspections.
The council told Agriland at the time that the move followed “representations from farming bodies and elected members”.