Farmers in the Republic of Ireland say unrealistic emissions targets and other “daft” policies are forcing a wedge between them and the European Union.

The European Commission regularly introduces new policy, or tweaks existing ones, which farmers see as impractical and unrealistic to implement.

More recently, Irish farmers feel aggrieved at the commission for radically introducing emissions policies that are beyond the scope of reality, and are in danger of putting some of them out of business.

---

---

Being a predominantly grass-based farming system, Ireland has unique, but not dissimilar, practices to the rest of the EU that deserve special attention in terms of new policies, and a huge measure of commonsense.

Ireland’s dairy industry is renowned for cattle grazing outdoors on grassland pasture for up to nine months of the year on family-owned farms. 

---

---

This outdoor grazing system enables the Irish dairy sector to claim it is one of the most environmentally efficient in the world with a carbon footprint of 0.97kg CO2e per kg FPCM.

Ollie Neville is a dairy farmer in County Offaly milking 250 cows. He runs half the herd as pedigree Holstein cows and the other as ProCROSS crossbreds.

Neville said farmers in Ireland feel really disconnected from the bureaucrats in Brussels making the farming decisions.

He advocates that every farmer, no matter where they are in the EU, should be allowed to farm their own land the best way to suit their unique conditions.

He also says it’s time to stop criticizing other farming colleagues and remove the “them and us” perceptions that is ruining agriculture.

EMISSION TARGETS

Neville said, “In terms of these latest emissions targets, I think politicians are running away with themselves. It’s totally impractical for farmers to work to the targets set by people who have never set foot in Ireland.

“We need more research carried out and time for science to work to evaluate exactly what we are up against, rather than pluck dates from the sky. 2030 is too close for us to work to and it’s unrealistic to expect farmers to have everything in place to cope with the emissions regulations by then.

“Farmers also need to be properly incentivized financially with government assistance to prepare their farms with, for example, adequate slurry storage, and carbon calculators, to make these regulations feasible.

“There is going to be a lot of carnage in the near future if farmers are pushed to get their house in order to meet targets. Some farmers will undoubtedly be pushed out of business. 

“I also feel the Danish farmers jumped in too quick agreeing to a carbon tax. It may sound good to appease politicians and the public, but it’s unfair and going to be a precedent for other countries to follow.

“In the end, it’s not going to reduce emission levels, it’s just going to make the world think the Danish are being proactive.”

The Irish dairy industry increased production when milk quotas ended in 2015, but output has dropped since last year. Irish dairy exports were valued at an estimated €6.3 billion in 2023, representing a value decline of almost 8%.

During 2023 milk collections in Ireland declined by almost 2% on 2022 levels to approximately 8.7 billion liters.

“That’s down to a wetter climate these past two years,” said Neville. “Plus the nitrates restrictions and stocking rates have brought it down.

“Ireland has a unique milder climate and we need the nitrates derogation from the EU to stay in place. If other parts of the EU have similar climates then they should be allowed derogations too. Fair is fair, they should be allowed the same as us.

“It’s unfair these rules are made for each country as we are all in the EU where same rules should apply. We don’t need to be ganging up on each other.”

LIVE EXPORTS

As an island somewhat dislodged from mainland EU, Irish agriculture relies on live exports of cattle and sheep to reach even its European markets, a free trade that is enshrined in EU constitution.

However, as other countries start to ban these movements Irish farmers are concerned how long it will be before that law comes to bite them.

Neville said banning live exports of cattle and sheep would be a huge disadvantage to Ireland.
“Live exports should not be a problem as long as strict welfare conditions are adhered to,” he said. “It is essential to open new markets for farmers that wouldn’t normally be possible.”

Another point well made by Neville referred to young people entering farming.

He said, “Young people should be encouraged by the EU to enter the sector. They need access to infrastructure, land and finance, otherwise we are heading for an ageing farmer structure. “These young farmer new entrant grants are OK but let’s reward genuinely interested young farmers with zero interest loans to get them properly started. If we lose the younger generations of farmers then the knowledge is gone.
“Farming is taught best down through the generations so we need to retain this bank of knowledge going forward if the world wants food produced,” he said.