The Food Vision Dairy Group (FVDG) has been established by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue. Noting the development, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association’s (ICMSA) president Pat McCormack has said that the FVDG must not link emissions from the dairy sector with Irish milk output.
The FVDG membership consists of representatives of all stake holder groups operating within Ireland’s dairy sectors. The processers will be represented by Dairy Industry Ireland.
Minister McConalogue stated that the first task of the new group will be to “produce a detailed plan by quarter two of this year to manage the sustainable environmental footprint of the dairy sector”, but McCormack responded that it will not be practically feasible to report until at least the end of June or July.
“It is imperative that the new group gets accurate farmer feedback on what is such a fundamentally important issue for every Irish milk producer. The minister has taken no cognisance of the fact that dairy farmers are now entering the busiest period of their year,” the ICMSA president said.
He also added that, “Farming, and dairy in particular, must not be used as a convenient scapegoat for the country as a whole when it comes to a settling on realistic climate change targets.
McCormack said ICMSA will participate in the work carried out by the new group, but their priority will be to ensure that Irish milk output levels are fully maintained.
LSL News.