Government is completely out of touch with the practical realities of managing hedges and trees on farms, according to Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) rural development chair Tim Farrell.
Farrell said the ICSA has “reacted furiously at the lack of consultation around the removal of the exemption for burning green waste”.
His comments come after it was revealed that the burning of agricultural waste, such as bushes, hedge trimmings and tree tops, is no longer allowed on farms following a ban which came into effect on 1 January 2022.
Minister Eamon Ryan’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has responsibility for the area and the Irish Farmers Journal understands that the ban has come about after a derogation which was granted in previous years was not granted for 2022.
Strong signal
Tim Farrell said “it just beggars’ belief that Minister Eamon Ryan would send a very strong signal not to plant any more hedges or trees” at a time when the CAP Strategic Plan is “heavily focused on incentivising” more planting.
He explained how farmers regularly have to deal with green waste when they tidy up hedges that have gotten out of control or when they make sure that hedges are trimmed so as to not cause a road safety issue.
Farrell said this also occurs when old trees die or are blown down in stormy weather.
“While farmers generally make every effort to harvest as much firewood as possible, the practical realities are that there will always be material left that has no other practical use,” he said.
Cost effective
The ICSA rural development chair warned that the only cost effective and efficient way of dealing with such unusable material is to burn it.
This is shockingly disrespectful
He said: “It would be prohibitively expensive to hire in a mulching contractor and in some cases, the land isn’t accessible, especially in the wintertime when this kind of work is being done.”
“ICSA is particularly annoyed that there was no consultation whatsoever about this and no effort has been made to engage by Minister Ryan’s department. This is shockingly disrespectful and leaves farmers in an impossible situation.”
Ridiculous
Farrell said that it is “most ridiculous” that Minister Ryan has, “in one fell swoop, destroyed the motivation of farmers who are most likely to deliver green public goods by sending a signal that trees and hedges are a costly nuisance rather than a resource”.
He called for a meeting with Minister Ryan on the green waste burning ban “with a view to getting the exemption restored and ensuring that sanity prevails”.
SHARING OPTIONS