Farmers are joining the dots on the potential impact of the proposed new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and environmental policy as the political heat is notched up this week. Farmers are realising the fundamentals of what will be a very different CAP for Ireland and the frustration is boiling over for many.

The national tractor-cade led by the IFA will no doubt send a strong message to the Government and the EU of the importance of CAP to farming in Ireland. It also stands to highlight the benefits of farming to rural Ireland and the environmental benefits that ensue as a result of the farming landscape across the country.

We must remember that rural Ireland is very different most of mainland Europe. The network of grasslands, trees, hedgerows intertwined with a dynamic and grazing-based livestock industry is unique in Europe and indeed the world.

Anything that changes our farming system into an industry requiring more inputs and higher investment could be counterproductive. We hear talk of limiting stock numbers which would simply send the wrong message to farmers to ratchet up production per animal with more inputs rather than use the feed growing on the farm. US-based Prof Frank Mitloehner agrees. We are delighted to be able to retain his opinion and thoughts on these matters this week and in future editions.

Prof Frank Mitloehner is one of the foremost experts in the world on the important role of farming in the climate debate. \ Finbarr O'Rourke

In this week's edition, Mitloehner says Ireland’s animal agriculture sector is enviable. He acknowledges that Ireland needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, he suggests reducing the national herd may not be the panacea that many believe it to be. His core message is tackle efficiencies and new innovation first and make no mistake that other countries will provide the meat and milk for customers if Ireland doesn’t produce it. He cites manufacturing outsourced from the US to China and India as an example of where this has happened in the US. The manufacturing is gone but overall emissions are higher.

He says if the Government limits stock numbers then in the short term you might see modest progress towards short-term targets, but realistically some other country will produce it and Ireland would lose economic power. He suggests the focus should be on better genetics, nutrition, additives and better land management. These are all areas under research and in play on Irish farms. One of the reasons we see bigger tractors and more horsepower on rural roads is to be able to use the new technology to manage nutrients from farms in a more effective way.

Short-changed

Farming is getting short-changed on a number of fronts and it is happening before our very eyes. While a flawed CAP outcome is still odds on to be delivered before the end of June, it is clear that farmers are suddenly realising the flawed nature of the new split of funds. Rather than introduce new funding, the convergence policy and simply moving farmers’ money around is becoming clearer with every day. This week we will see more and more farmers realising this but black smoke and traffic jams won’t be enough. Where the rubber hits the road will be on what the Government commits to co-financing and the €1.5bn environmental package for vulnerable sectors.

This week’s tractor-cade puts farming centre stage and sends a clear message to the Government and rural TDs. The Government has no choice now but to take a flawed CAP from Brussels and use all the flexibilities it can to make the CAP fit for Ireland.

In the long term, sustainable markets will have to be created for the large-scale carbon sequestration that farmers are capable of providing and production systems simply have to match environmental ambition and consumer demands. We need leadership on these issues.

We need to open the door to allow farmers get some credit for carbon sequestration. Farmers are investing millions on a daily basis in their industry – they deserve the truth about what the future holds and talk about having “mature discussions” and “capping” is not the leadership farmers deserve at this juncture.

Why not come clean for farmers? Investment is huge and playing politics with farm livelihoods is not future-proofing the industry.

Read our exclusive interview with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue here.