DEAR EDITOR: Following my recent letter (dated 27 September 2023) I have had constant enquiries from many worried farmers, particularly young enthusiastic dairy farmers, who responded to the opportunity to increase milk.

Having travelled in Europe recently to look at various factors which will affect Irish agriculture, it is becoming blatantly obvious to me that Brussels’ desire is to have a standardised farming system at 170kg of organic nitrogen per hectare. They’re basing this on a totally different farming system to ours and it will decimate Irish grass-based agriculture.

A profitable, well-managed family farm system has very little effect on water quality when compared to European or worldwide indoor intensive systems.

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Teagasc needs to be more vocal in this area showing how our grass-based system is different to the model found on most EU farms and how it works more favourably from an environmental perspective.

Farmers want to help improve water quality and this can be achieved without any detrimental effect on the present level of production.

Working together, much can be achieved as has been proven in the catchment programme. I urge all farmers to contact their TDs, senators, MEPs and county councillors, outlining their concerns around losing their potential to farm profitably into the future.

We need to encourage our young, well-educated farming workforce to sustain our family farm system. The present stocking rate proposals will do nothing to improve water quality.

The present proposed reduction in the national herd will take care of the greenhouse gas reduction for 2030 and beyond. Our national herd will be reduced without the mention of compensation for loss of earning potential. Ireland’s loss will be to the benefit of South America, Asia and the Far East.

I suggest we retain areas with a 250kg designation to prove areas can improve and move back from 220kg to 250kg.

I still have not got any answer around the immoral culling of heavily pregnant cows between now and the end of the year. I hope sanity prevails.

There seems to be a total lack of understanding and gravity of the situation in our Department if they think the response to this is to introduce a 70% TAMS for tillage farmers to build slurry tanks.

Could we have one Europe-wide clear comparison around the measurement of water quality? We don’t need an Irish measurement which bears no comparison to European figures.

We need to step back from the cliff edge now and not destroy Irish agriculture for future generations and we must not destroy our ability to produce healthy sustainable food.