Farmers must embrace sustainability or the market will react negatively – Hogan

As part of the keynote address at the 2017 Agricultural Science Association (ASA) annual conference, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said farmers need to do more on tackling environmental challenges.

However, the Commissioner said with added responsibility, farmers need to be financially rewarded.

Boots on the ground

“Without farmers, the game is up… farmers are boots on the ground,” Commissioner Hogan said.

Hogan said farmers are often criticised by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for not doing enough to address climate change but he said they are in the best place to deal with any imbalances.

“It’s lazy narrative that likes to portray farmers as being part of the problem but they have to be part of the solution.

“They are the only group as far as I know equipped and present willing and able to implement these policies and must be rewarded for it.”

.@PhilHoganEU at #ASAconf17 on climate change: 'it's a lazy narrative that likes to portray farmers as part of the problem'.

— Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) September 8, 2017

However, while Commissioner Hogan was supportive of farmers in the climate change debate, he said it is not all a one-way system. He cautioned that farmers must open their minds to how they can address climate change.

He argued that if farmers do not embrace it, then they will lose out in the pocket.

“If Irish farmers don’t embrace sustainability the marketplace will react negatively. I would strongly advice that you ignore sustainability and water quality at your peril. It will trickle down into prices,” Hogan said.

There will be further updates from the 2017 ASA conference on www.farmersjournal.ie throughout Friday and the weekend as well as in next week’s Irish Farmers Journal.

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