Anger is mounting among farmers who fear they will be hit by a raft of changes to farming practices on peat soils.Tension between farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture over possible new rules for farmers on peatland is rising, with the INHFA protesting in Dublin on Tuesday and the IFA calling an emergency meeting in Athlone tonight, Thursday.
Anger is mounting among farmers who fear they will be hit by a raft of changes to farming practices on peat soils.
Tension between farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture over possible new rules for farmers on peatland is rising, with the INHFA protesting in Dublin on Tuesday and the IFA calling an emergency meeting in Athlone tonight, Thursday.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and his Department have sought to downplay the importance of a recent meeting on rewetting and “reduced management intensity” of 80,000ha, from which farmers were excluded.
Separately, 32,000 farmers on peatland are to be impacted by GAEC 2, which will see restrictions around drainage and ploughing, although Minister Heydon insisted on Tuesday that they would be unaffected.
He told the Irish Farmers Journal that his GAEC 2 proposals were necessary to avoid €100m in fines on Ireland’s CAP budget, and would not impact farmers’ “day-to-day activities”.
IFA deputy president Alice Doyle has hit out at Government parties.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael swore they would consult with us, keep us in the loop and would have our backs. Now we hear of secret meetings, and between the Nature Restoration Law, GAEC 2 and the Climate Action Plan, farmers are confused and concerned.”
A Department spokesperson reiterated that any rewetting of peat soils by farmers would be voluntary.
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