At the recent Fine Gael special conference on agriculture and rural development in Tullamore, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that a lot of farmers “feel that they’re being climate-shamed and being made to feel bad for the work that they do and the job that they have. That’s totally wrong, and we’re not going to get anything done in climate action if people feel that way. However,” he said, “the sector being asked for the lowest reduction in emissions is the agriculture sector, not the highest.”
“We need to be honest with ourselves about that, and the reason why we’re asking for the lowest contribution from the agriculture sector is for a very good reason – because it is so important – it is about food production, it is essential to rural Ireland.”
Eddie Punch of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association told Mr Varadkar that while a party in Government has a lot of obligations on a global level, “sometimes that can lead to a party becoming detached from the feeling and interests of people on the ground. I think that when it comes to climate change, there’s a sense in rural Ireland that too much is about the shortcomings, too much is about penalising, too much is anti-livestock agriculture.”
“The reality is that there are many solutions that rural Ireland can supply. But we’re not feeling that and we’re not hearing it on the ground. The message farmers are getting from Europe is “livestock bad, plant-based good”, which is “toxic to rural Ireland”, he commented.
Martin Heydon’s input was that a viable future must be delivered on for farmers and the wider rural community. “We’ve always recognised and valued the role of food in society – we’ve become world-renowned as a food-producing island. Our agricultural industry is capable of feeding a population many multiples of our own.”
He told the conference that in grass, Ireland has a “natural competitive advantage in producing a low-cost inedible feed and converting that to some of the highest quality and nutrient-dense food in the world. This is further complemented by the diverse range of agricultural sectors we have here in Ireland. Farmers are more connected to the environment and the land than anyone else – they are the solution, not the problem.”