The newly formed Food Vision Dairy Group held its inaugural meeting in Dublin on Monday February 7. The group has been tasked with examining emissions within the dairy sector. Group chairperson, Prof. Gerry Boyle highlighted that reintroducing milk quotas was not part of his agenda for the group.
Boyle said that he was aware of the fact that members of the group will be discussing a very sensitive subject.
“However, we are now in the second year of a Climate Action Plan. Within this, the target has been set of first stabilising emissions within the milk sector and, thereafter, reducing them”, he added.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has requested that the group compile its initial report on the sector by the end of March. It’s understood that the group will have a short space of time to complete its work.
Boyle said that he was not sure if they could have draft findings ready for the agriculture minister by the end of March, but added that members of the group would be very busy over the coming weeks.
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Dairy Committee chair, Stephen Arthur also attended the meeting yesterday. He said that the “IFA will not accept any linkage between emissions and milk output levels. Ireland has a tremendously successful dairy industry. And this is the real story that we need to tell the world”.
But Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president, Pat McCormack, who also attended the meeting stressed the need for climate change policy to fully embrace the needs of family dairy farms throughout Ireland.
The members of the new dairy group are due to meet again in a fortnight.
LSL News.