Only big meat barons and exporters can make money out of cattle, environmentalist and architect Duncan Stewart has said.
Stewart, a presenter on RTÉ's Eco Eye, was speaking on Newstalk following a UN assessment calling for a change in food production to combat climate change.
Stewart believes: “Farmers cannot make a living out of cattle and the industry is in a dead-end situation. We have a dying rural Ireland happening here and now.”
Biogas
Stewart suggested that grass could be grown for biogas, with farmers receiving a guaranteed price and providing fuel for transport in Ireland. He said this would, in turn, help in reducing the cattle herd by 50%.
IFA president Joe Healy was also on the programme.
In response to Stewart, Healy stated: “Over the last 28 years, agriculture in Ireland has increased its output by 40%, while our greenhouse gas emissions have remained the same.
“Agriculture is one of the few sectors with a 10-year road map ahead.”
Stewart insisted people could not continue consuming meat for the sake of future generations.
Healy stated by 2027 there will be a 17% global increase in demand for meat.
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Only big meat barons and exporters can make money out of cattle, environmentalist and architect Duncan Stewart has said.
Stewart, a presenter on RTÉ's Eco Eye, was speaking on Newstalk following a UN assessment calling for a change in food production to combat climate change.
Stewart believes: “Farmers cannot make a living out of cattle and the industry is in a dead-end situation. We have a dying rural Ireland happening here and now.”
Biogas
Stewart suggested that grass could be grown for biogas, with farmers receiving a guaranteed price and providing fuel for transport in Ireland. He said this would, in turn, help in reducing the cattle herd by 50%.
IFA president Joe Healy was also on the programme.
In response to Stewart, Healy stated: “Over the last 28 years, agriculture in Ireland has increased its output by 40%, while our greenhouse gas emissions have remained the same.
“Agriculture is one of the few sectors with a 10-year road map ahead.”
Stewart insisted people could not continue consuming meat for the sake of future generations.
Healy stated by 2027 there will be a 17% global increase in demand for meat.
Read more
Teagasc director on suckler herd reduction: farmers have choice
Beef farmers making nothing out of beef, it’s ‘going to get worse’
Art school solution to belching pollution
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