Addressing the Irish Farmers Association AGM this week, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said the agriculture sector needs to ‘stabilise emissions rapidly’ – adding that if emissions are permitted to increase further, the sector “will be faced with an even bigger challenge in the coming years, one that will put even more pressure on farmers”.
He asserted that greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy industry must not rise beyond their current level.
“Champion of Irish Agriculture Taoiseach Michael Martin declared that the sector was at a “crossroads”. He said that farm practices that enable farmers to produce “world-class food while addressing emissions from the sector” are key, but warned “more will inevitably be asked of the sector if these measures alone prove insufficient to meet the emissions reductions that are required”.
Singling out the dairy sector, Minister McConalogue reinforced that despite Irish dairy products being among the most carbon-efficient in the world, the sector needs “to act now to ensure that total emissions from the dairy sector do not increase beyond their current level”.
The dairy sector has been the economic powerhouse of the agriculture sector over the past decade and was worth more than €5 billion to the Irish economy last year. However, that growth has seen emissions also expand and the Minister’s comments could signal that expansion at the individual farm level could be halted.
McConalogue said the sector would have to think about how it ensures that “there is space for generational renewal and new entrants” and for those with marginal enterprises the space “to improve viability”.
His view is that changes must take place within an “overarching framework” that provides certainty around stabilisation and then reduction of emissions from the dairy sector.
LSL News.