Unless the Government can bring forward “concrete proposals with funding” to back incentives to destock the suckler herd, the Food Vision beef and sheep group interim report is “waffle”, says the Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA).

ICSA general secretary Eddie Punch described the process through which the interim report has been presented to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue this week as “deeply flawed”.

“It’s becoming kind of farcical. You have the Minister having an internal conversation with the Department and we’re onlookers,” he said.

The group published its interim report this week detailing a number of proposals for beef farmers to cut emissions, including replacing 90% of CAN used with protected urea, a 20% cut in chemical nitrogen use by 2025 and the earlier slaughter age of cattle.

‘Early days’

Punch highlighted that, ultimately, the work of the Food Vision beef and sheep group to come up with mechanisms to reduce emissions from the beef and sheep sectors is “still [in its] very early days”.

“The beef vision one is still well behind the dairy vision one. I think some of the most difficult measures won’t get support from the farm organisations.

“How can you be asked to take a position on something when there is no clarity on funding? As a general principle, we’re against the suckler herd being decimated."

Equal value

The ICSA general secretary warned that any scheme put forward to reduce cow numbers must place equal value on dairy and suckler cows.

However, he said: “I think they’re barking up the wrong tree with a reduction of cows, be they suckler or dairy. In the absence of concrete financial proposals, nothing will be supported.”

IFA reaction

Irish Farmers Association (IFA) national livestock chair Brendan Golden also warned that the proposals of the group to reduce emissions from the beef herd need “further analysis”.

On farmers being paid to destock their sucklers herds, he said: “There may be some that will take up that option, but they want to know what they’re looking at.”

IFA national livestock chair Brendan Golden.

Emphasising the value of the sucker herd to rural Ireland, he said he said the IFA would only be willing to take on measures which “make practical sense” and that can be shown to reduce emissions.

Crucially, Golden highlighted that any farmer who might choose to reduce cow numbers must not have that land taken out of production.

Earlier finishing

On proposals to reduce the slaughter age of cattle to reduce their overall lifetime emissions, the IFA representative said this “might be alright for the earlier maturing breeds and dairy-crosses”.

However, he warned that processors want the heavy, grass-fed steer for premium markets and that “horsing in meal” to these to finish at a younger ages will put farmers “back to square one on emissions”.

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