The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has criticised the Minister of Agriculture’s attempts to downplay the significance of a recent meeting on rewetting.
The ICSA said that Martin Heydon’s discussion on "reduced management intensity" of 80,000 hectares under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan has done little to reassure farmers.
Association president Sean McNamara said that the prospect of more restrictions is leaving farmers increasingly fearful that they will be driven out of business.
“Trust in the Government is at breaking point after farming organisations were excluded from this meeting, and anger and frustration is now mounting among farmers who fear they will be hit with yet more restrictions on how they farm peaty soils,” he said.
“The margins in farming are already so tight, and if we continue down this path of relentless restrictions, the chances of anyone making a viable living from farming will dwindle to nothing.”
Issues
The ICSA said that the measures in GAEC 2 might lead to serious issues of land devaluation and have urged that proper compensation must be central to the discussion.
McNamara has also voiced concerns that there is no clear indication of just how far the Government plans to take all this.
“Land affected by these restrictions will see its value plummet and it won’t be only this generation that is impacted,” added McNamara.
“This means mineral soils are being unfairly caught up in GAEC 2 restrictions, all of which will limit agricultural activities, reduce productivity, and devalue land.
“The concern is that in a few years’ time, farmers working peatlands and surrounding mineral soils may find themselves unable to farm at all. We’ve already seen with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that once land is forested; it can never return to agricultural use. The danger is that we are heading in exactly the same direction with these new designations.”
Read more
Farmers in GAEC 2 will continue ‘normal agricultural activity’ - Heydon
Barry Cowen on the EU’s budget and ‘alarmism’ about rewetting
Row ramps up over peatlands
In pictures: hill farmers protest at Agriculture House
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has criticised the Minister of Agriculture’s attempts to downplay the significance of a recent meeting on rewetting.
The ICSA said that Martin Heydon’s discussion on "reduced management intensity" of 80,000 hectares under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan has done little to reassure farmers.
Association president Sean McNamara said that the prospect of more restrictions is leaving farmers increasingly fearful that they will be driven out of business.
“Trust in the Government is at breaking point after farming organisations were excluded from this meeting, and anger and frustration is now mounting among farmers who fear they will be hit with yet more restrictions on how they farm peaty soils,” he said.
“The margins in farming are already so tight, and if we continue down this path of relentless restrictions, the chances of anyone making a viable living from farming will dwindle to nothing.”
Issues
The ICSA said that the measures in GAEC 2 might lead to serious issues of land devaluation and have urged that proper compensation must be central to the discussion.
McNamara has also voiced concerns that there is no clear indication of just how far the Government plans to take all this.
“Land affected by these restrictions will see its value plummet and it won’t be only this generation that is impacted,” added McNamara.
“This means mineral soils are being unfairly caught up in GAEC 2 restrictions, all of which will limit agricultural activities, reduce productivity, and devalue land.
“The concern is that in a few years’ time, farmers working peatlands and surrounding mineral soils may find themselves unable to farm at all. We’ve already seen with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that once land is forested; it can never return to agricultural use. The danger is that we are heading in exactly the same direction with these new designations.”
Read more
Farmers in GAEC 2 will continue ‘normal agricultural activity’ - Heydon
Barry Cowen on the EU’s budget and ‘alarmism’ about rewetting
Row ramps up over peatlands
In pictures: hill farmers protest at Agriculture House
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