Dempsey at Large: the Green Deal - intimidated into silence

The initial document from the European Commission on its signature proposal is more sensible and sympathetic than many expected. At last, there is an explicit acknowledgement of the importance of food security and how farmers’ incomes have fallen behind other sectors of the population.

Nobody can argue with the central aims of reducing dependence on pesticides and antibiotics, as well as reducing excessive fertiliser use – all in the context of taking action to increasing the health of the general population and reducing agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and environmental degradation.

The idea of tradable carbon certificates has been floated before and is certainly possible

The document talks of improving the EU’s competitiveness in the food sector, while at the same time only barely mentioning the improvements that new biotechnology techniques can bring. The scope for pesticide savings in, for example, potatoes using gene editing is real and proven, but nothing along these lines is proposed.

The solid proposal to reward farmers for carbon sequestration must be welcomed.

The technology for measuring on-farm carbon sequestration has developed in recent years

The idea of tradable carbon certificates has been floated before and is certainly possible, though the failure in the operation of the European carbon credit market is an example of how this idea can run into problems.

That said, the technology for measuring on-farm carbon sequestration has developed in recent years – we referred to the Devenish work at Dowth in a recent edition of the Irish Farmers Journal.

The European Commission is also on firm ground in pushing for more on-farm renewable energy development such as bio-digesters and solar power, but they acknowledge that this will essentially be up to the individual member states.

On the ruminants side, there is an acknowledgement of fostering the use of specialist feed additives

Ireland has been conspicuously slow in facilitating this kind of on-farm diversification.

On the ruminants side, there is an acknowledgement of fostering the use of specialist feed additives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and there is mention of reducing the dependence on soya from deforested land.

Trade policy is mentioned several times and the plan is nothing if not ambitious

However, the nettle of GM feed imports has not been touched. Interestingly, the need for the introduction of coupled protein support (the current beans regime is one relevant example) is mentioned and they want to ban cheap meat promotions – are we about to see a reintroduction of below cost selling?

Trade policy is mentioned several times and the plan is nothing if not ambitious – the next steps will be interesting.