There is mounting anger among dairy farmers that the industry is being corralled by the Government into cutting cow numbers or accepting an effective return to milk quotas.

A new Food Vision Dairy Group has been tasked by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue with producing an action plan for “stabilising” and “reducing” carbon emissions from the industry.

However, farm organisations have warned ahead of a crunch meeting of the group next Monday that they will not have any hand, act or part in measures which could impact on dairy farm incomes.

Plan

A “detailed plan” for the sector is required from the group by the end of June, with a draft expected at the end of March.

Minister McConalogue declined to reply when asked by the Irish Farmers Journal this week what actions he believed should be taken to reduce carbon emissions from dairying.

The minister’s move comes as Ireland’s milk output for 2021 reached a record level of 8.75bn litres and follows predictions from the ICBF that the dairy herd could top 1.8m head by 2025 – an increase of 200,000 cows.

A similar group to tackle carbon emissions from the beef and sheep sectors is to be formed shortly.