A special taskforce has been set up by the Department of Agriculture to examine the feasibility of a dairy cow cull, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

The establishment of the dedicated committee confirms that a scheme to take out dairy cows is under active consideration by the Department.

While a cow cull was among the proposals tabled by the Food Vision dairy group earlier this year, the detail of such a scheme was not agreed by stakeholders.

Any dairy cull package will also have to be agreed by Government.

Talks on the issue will step up a gear from Friday when a possible cull is discussed by the Food Vision dairy group.

Industry sources confirmed that a potential dairy cow reduction scheme is on the agenda for the meeting, but said the Department is unlikely to present the stakeholder group with firm proposals. However, a broad outline of a cull package could be put on the table.

“The terms and conditions will be awfully important,” one farm representative said.

“Will a cull scheme effectively mean an overall cap on dairy cow numbers? And will this be demanded by [the Department of] Public Expenditure?” he asked.

Others believe that the overall capping of cow numbers will be delivered by tighter water quality controls and changes to the nitrates derogation.

They argue that the cull’s purpose is to deliver a “once-off reduction in emissions ahead of 2025”.

Under the original recommendations from the Food Vision dairy group, farmers who committed to taking cows out for three lactations could be paid up to €2,910/cow.

“A package like that would suit an awful lot of farmers and there’ll be no shortage of takers,” one farmer representative conceded.