We have reached a stage where anyone that speaks up for Irish livestock is in danger of being intimidated into silence by condemnation and personalised attacks. But we must let facts emerge. The highly regarded Australian research institute – CSIRO – has just been awarded the million dollar Food Planet prize for their ground-breaking work on feeding a variety of seaweed to cattle to reduce their methane production by about 95%. The recognition of this work by the director of the German Potsdam Institute for climate impact research, as well as the Swedish Stockholm Resilience Centre, both of whom were on the judging panel, should send a clear message that methane emissions in bovines can be controlled by diet.

Coupled with that, we have international climate scientists such as Prof Ray Bates, who have shifted fundamentally the understanding of the way methane’s contribution to overall greenhouse gas emissions should be calculated.

I was surprised that in the latest climate document from the Department of Agriculture, neither the question marks over the methane contribution calculations nor the potential of a seaweed feed additive were seriously addressed

At this stage, the work by the Australian researcher Rob Kinley and the international recognition it has now received should refocus Irish efforts in researching the practical ways that the aspargopsis-rich seaweed can be grown and harvested. Some work has already started in researching this area, but the potential gains in both beef and dairying are so significant that national research priorities should be reassessed. I was surprised that in the latest climate document from the Department of Agriculture, neither the question marks over the methane contribution calculations nor the potential of a seaweed feed additive were seriously addressed.

We are seeing the same arbitrary approach in the EU’s new Farm to Fork strategy, with the prescription to reduce fertiliser and insecticide use regardless of evidence of residues above safe levels in the case of plant protection products and animal medicines, such as anthelmintics. In the case of fertilisers, a blanket reduction rather than a measured assessment of crop needs and likelihood of pollution seems to be a negation of what good science should be about. When the time comes for detailed discussion on these proposals, Ireland should not be afraid to insist on logic and evidence.