A recent report from the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) has included a recommendation to introduce “short-term carbon budgets”.
The Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Environmental Committee chairman, Thomas Cooney, has blasted this recommendation calling on “all dairy co-ops and meat processors to clarify if this is their agreed position”.
If this is the agreed position of our co-ops and processors then they have effectively signed up to a cap on production.
Continuing, he stressed this has been done “without any consultation with primary producers”.
He expressed his frustration at the recommendation saying: “It has undermined Ireland’s sustainable model of food production at a time of increasing demand for the high-quality proteins produced by farmers.”
He added: “This represents a significant sellout by our dairy co-ops and meat processors of Ireland’s low carbon model of food production.
It will have a significant impact on farm level investment decisions by farmers in the coming years and would be a further body blow for rural Ireland.
Cooney’s concern comes from a proposal on page 53 of the report.
A statement from the IFA outlined that Irish co-ops and meat processors are represented by IBEC through Dairy Industry Ireland and Meat Industry Ireland.