IFA president Joe Healy has called on the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action to support the full implementation of the Teagasc climate roadmap.

Healy said: “Ireland has a carbon-efficient model of food production, with the European Commission confirming that Ireland’s dairy farmers have the lowest carbon footprint for milk and our beef farmers are among the five most carbon-efficient in the EU. This has been a key contributor to the growth of Ireland’s agri-food sector, with exports of €13.5bn in 2017, employing over 300,000 directly and indirectly.”

He added: “There is increasing global demand for the high-quality food types that Irish farmers produce efficiently.

‘‘It is important that this sustainable production is not restricted, as it would lead to increased international climate emissions. This would happen because regions like the Brazilian Amazon in South America would be deforested to meet this growing demand. This is a real possibility with the new Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro already promising to take Brazil out of the Paris Agreement.”

IFA environment chair Thomas Cooney said: “Agriculture deserves to have a fairer representation of its climate actions. For example, why are the carbon sinks from Ireland’s permanent pastures, hedgerows and forestry excluded when it comes to climate change and agriculture?

“Farmers are engaged in climate action. From a carbon--efficiency perspective, we are best in class. We seek logical proposals from the Oireachtas climate committee, which takes full account of the potential economic and social impact on farm families and the wider rural economy.”