DEAR EDITOR
Food security is going to be the most important crisis for the next generation in Europe.
With hotter and hotter summers baking up grassland on the continent, we are in a unique position, weather-proofed for the future to continue to provide.
The planet will have a population of 10 billion by 2050, with at least a 50% increase in demand for beef and dairy.
We have a moral and ethical obligation to use the advantage our temperate climate gives us to produce as much protein as possible to meet those food needs, while of course protecting our environment. We do that on our dairy farms and need to continue to emphasise food security when defending our nitrates derogation.
What about our marginal land and upland farms’ lack of productivity?
Why are we content that they produce a small fraction of their potential or indeed a minuscule amount compared to a hundred years ago?
An example is the Glenties rural district in Donegal which grazed over 20,000 cattle in the 1950s (source An Foras Talúntais) and now has less than 5% of that cattle population with tillage totally gone and sheep numbers static.
Why do we do such a tremendous job for our economy in perfecting our intensive farms and then neglect the potential on our extensive farms?
The new CAP must be designed to encourage farmers to use their land to its full potential irrespective of its quality and pay on production, with targets set appropriate to the quality of land. It should be designed to reward those producing the maximum their land can achieve, whether it be in the Golden Vale or Connemara, and penalise abandoned or semi-abandoned holdings.
We have a vacant property tax for unutilised development land – we also need an abandoned land tax to generate land mobility and give the youth who want to farm the opportunity to farm.
SHARING OPTIONS