Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Is this going to be the reasons given for the end of subsidies and Grant's?

I was firmly of the belief Ireland and the UK were better of in Europe, now I'm beginning to think we would be better get out and have our own elected representatives set our rules, we might have some say in forging the way ahead then. Let them work for for us instead of working for Europe to gain favour for a cushy well paid job in Brussels.
 
Is this going to be the reasons given for the end of subsidies and Grant's?

I was firmly of the belief Ireland and the UK were better of in Europe, now I'm beginning to think we would be better get out and have our own elected representatives set our rules, we might have some say in forging the way ahead then. Let them work for for us instead of working for Europe to gain favour for a cushy well paid job in Brussels.

You can look at it a lot of ways. There is a certain proportion of the grants being paid to farmers who are not really farming, but merely going through the motions in order to draw down a grant which is based on the level of farming that they were doing 20 years ago. Grants in the next round of CAP are due to fall by 8% to 10%. These savings will have to be found somewhere. It's hard to take them from active farmers.

We are falling between a rock and a hard place here. We have an incompetent government when it comes to agriculture and have had an incompetent government for the last 20 years - There were no hardline rules on how they shared out CAP money and just look at how they messed it up. On the other hand, if we look at European politicians, it's fair to say that most of those at the top are only in the EU because they failed in their own countries and were shipped off to Europe as a reward for being a sacrificial lamb.

It's a hard reality to take, but the simple fact is that suckler cows aren't needed in the numbers that they were. There's still plenty of market for beef, but the increase in dairy cows is well able to provide enough numbers to meet beef demand. And these are just a byproduct of dairy.

There's no suggestion that we should drastically reduce the amount of beef that we produce. It is however, being suggested that we change the way that we produce it. There are a lot of arguments for and against dairy bred cattle. It's just a pity to see all of our eggs in one basket. The dairy industry is not infallible.
 
Beef needs intervention.
But will it get it?
Intervention saved dairy from going to the wall and very recently at that.

It’s altogether a bit Orwellian that dairy gets intervention and beef/tillage/etc doesn’t qualify.


It must be borne in mind that the beef industry is a European problem, not just Ireland. Where’s Big Phil?!
 
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I was thinking about this a bit more this evening. Isn't it bizarre that we are talking about a cut in the herd and still nothing about how much carbon is being stored in hedges and grass stores.

Also interested that our dairy research body was on the committee....
 
Last I checked beef in the shops is getting no cheaper.
Imo it's against the best interests of all other parties involved in the marketing of beef if farmers get paid more for it. Why would they return more money to us when they can have the beef for less money and seemingly an unending supply.
Yes let's cull half the Irish suck herd, so they can get all that cheap meat, then by the time this is sorted the doors will be open to South America, which are no doubt populated by European owned ranches/processors/shippers etc etc

I've said it before we need to start competing in selling it ourselves.
 
.Where’s Big Phil?![/QUOTE]
Big Phil is busy looking after EU interests, he said when he got the job he had no intention of looking after Irish farmer interests,
 
.Where’s Big Phil?!
Big Phil is busy looking after EU interests, he said when he got the job he had no intention of looking after Irish farmer interests,[/QUOTE]

He's only interested now in making sure he great a big portfolio. We all know a lot of those Commissioner jobs are not big ticket items.

To be fair, this is more of an Irish related issue than Eu.
 
I was thinking about this a bit more this evening. Isn't it bizarre that we are talking about a cut in the herd and still nothing about how much carbon is being stored in hedges and grass stores.

Also interested that our dairy research body was on the committee....

I didn’t see mention of dairy research involvement Nash? Where is that detailed?
 
Big Phil is busy looking after EU interests, he said when he got the job he had no intention of looking after Irish farmer interests,

He's only interested now in making sure he great a big portfolio. We all know a lot of those Commissioner jobs are not big ticket items.

To be fair, this is more of an Irish related issue than Eu.[/QUOTE]
Beef is on its knees throughout Europe, it’s not just an Irish issue.
When dairy got a wobbler the Eu Commission jumped in with intervention and therefore created a market until things picked up again. It’s only lately that the intervention stores were emptied again.
Feck they even sorted everyone with a ski holiday!
If the will was there beef could be bailed out just as easily. Ireland/Irish standing alone with a €100mln chèque in our paws fighting between ourselves about how to divvy it out is sad. Just sad.

Creed, Teagasc etc are quite willing to throw the native beef industry under a bus to support the dairy expansion. To read headlines of ‘The situation is developing’ is nothing but spin. Deep navel gazing into the future direction of native beef is a distraction...there was no such navel gazing when dairy got into the same position, only ‘get the chèque book out and DO something fairly lively’, kinda attitude!!

Empty rhetoric, deep introspection and self flagellation is only clouding the real issue. Immediate action is needed on a Eu wide basis with strong leadership and representation (especially from Creed etc) to pressure the Commission into doing something fast.

Sadly, the demise of beef is seen as an opportunity for increased forestry to offset ghg emissions from dairy...not to mention nitrates.
 
Lads it's called divide and conquer!
Dairy looks to tillage and thinks ‘robbing basterds’ (straw!) and ‘driving up the price of land’.
Tillage looks to dairy thinking ‘driving up the price of land’...
Dairy looks to beef thinking ‘opportunity for handy expansion’because they’re on their knees and would be glad of a few crumbs as contract rearers’.
The Dairy institute looks to beef and sees land for expansion, offsetting ghg and hectares to dilute nitrates...



Beef looks to where...?? €100mln pittance and infighting on how to divvy up the crumbs? Feck that.
 
Our national research institution...

Ah fair enough Nash

To be fair to them, they are also our national beef research institution too and could/should be seen as giving independent advice to decision makers.
I’m sure there are beef advisers in there who sometimes feel like the poor relations, I know the tillage guys have to push their agenda within the organisation to avoid being over shadowed.
 
I find it very sad and perverse that the most bio-diverse and speicies rich farms are being targeted yet again.
I can see merit in targeting intensive Tillage and Dairy farms to reduce their fert use and to porvide habitat corridors. Removing the Nitrates directive derogation and N&P bonuses for high yields in Tillage and making both have a % of their farms in hedges and or wildlife corridors.
The Suckler and Beef farms are being lost to intensive dairying and forestry, both of which will damage our flora and fuana.
On Global warming I have said it before, but again will state, Our biggest Carbon sink is Permanent Pasture, it locks up more CO2 and releases more Oxygen than anything else on this Island.
I don't believe that over population is the main issue, rather over consumption, China's population has not changed that much since the 1960's but their CO2 emissions have gone up by over 10 fold, Ireland would be similar, but less so.
Fossil-fuel-CO2-emissions-in-the-worlds-major-economies-1960-2018b.jpg
 
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