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Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) are calling for a similar carbon tax deduction that is available to farmers.
Green diesel, used as the primary fuel source by farm contractors, will be liable for the €6/tonne carbon tax increase from May 2020. This is expected to add €0.02/litre to agricultural/green diesel prices from May 2020.
“Our members can no longer continue to absorb these proposed additional fuel costs and many are now considering their future in this vital service supply sector for Ireland’s farming and food industry,” said Richard White, FCI national chair.
Outraged
In a letter to Minister Creed, White pointed out that members of the FCI “carry out 90% of the farm mechanisation work on Irish farms consuming close to 350 million litres of green diesel annually valued at €262 million. This amount alone is 62% of the energy bill for the entire Irish agricultural sector.”
He added that farm contractors are so outraged by the increase in fuel costs that they will be forced to increase all contractor charges to farmers by 5%.
White also said that the contractors are “strongly contemplating going Dutch” on the issue to highlight the inequities for them of the current carbon tax rebate system.
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