DEAR SIR: As the green agenda gains momentum in European and Irish politics, we as farmers must hold the political establishment and the people elected to hold office to account for past EU policies that promoted the expansion of food production across Europe.

The EU policymakers and political advisers have now decided to change direction of how we carry out agricultural activity within the European Union because of the climate change that mankind is facing.

These changes are being forced on all farmers across the EU block with little or no consultation with the people it will affect the most.

The Minister for the Environment, Eamon Ryan, says he understands the situation farmers are facing and sees our future in green renewable farming enterprises and the just transition for all but has failed to back that talk up with funding to set up these new enterprises.

So it’s no wonder that the farmers of the country are sceptical of the minister.

The current Government, if it is serious about rural Ireland, must first get these green alternatives in place and up and running before they ask farmers to take a leap of faith in the new green experiment.