Policy makers, scientists and financial institutions need to ask what they can do to make it easier for Irish farmers to reach the sector’s target of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Prof Rogier Schulte of Wageningen University in the Netherlands has said.

“Farmers have done the measures that are efficient, that reduce waste and that are good for the environment, but we’re at a point where there is more to do. There’s more work to be done and we’re running out of win-win solutions.”

Speaking at the Agricultural Science Association (ASA) debate on the Vision of Agriculture in 2050 in University College Cork (UCC) last week, he said it needs to be easier for farmers to reach the targets.

“We shouldn’t ask, what should the farmer do differently to become more sustainable but what can we, policy makers, scientists and financial institutions, do to make it easier for the farmer to reach targets?”