Like most big political debates, those on either extreme would like you to believe that only they have the answer, and only they can be trusted to do the right thing.

Sadly, that seems to be the case when it comes to the climate debate in Europe, and increasingly in Ireland.

Sometimes I think the facts behind the issue gets in the way of us understanding what is at stake. Our planet is heating up at a rate that will cause an existential threat to humanity. Our society’s burning desire to burn even more fossil fuels releasing even more deadly greenhouse gases is speeding up our planet’s demise.

This is the issue at hand. Everything else pales into insignificance.

Champion

I will admit that I am not the most obvious champion of climate change politics. Most people would be aware that I have been a dairy farmer for over 30 years. Therefore, I have a vested interest in this topic. However, as a politician, I have an obligation and a responsibility to the next generation to talk about the issues that people and society are sometimes unwilling to grapple with.

Rural Ireland and its people must be part of putting together and implementing the solution. There are still too many commentators speaking a language that seeks to alienate them, and diminish their important role in society as guardians of the countryside.

Food security

Food security has never been as important. COVID-19 has shown us that farmers, and agri-businesses, are still the lifeblood of our society and still power our domestic economy. Without a fully functioning food-supply chain, pressure can mount on society very quickly.

However, farmers cannot stick their heads in the sand and assume that this existential threat to our planet will not affect them and their way of working.

We need to be honest that while carbon emissions help warm the planet, methane emissions are contributing to speeding up that warming.

Farmers cannot stick their heads in the sand and assume that this existential threat to our planet will not affect them

While a quarter of all global methane emissions do come from oil and gas, the vast majority of the remainder comes from either cattle, sheep or organic waste. So a solution must be found if we are to slow down the speed at which the earth heats up.

And no, this doesn’t mean a cull to the national herd. Methane emission levels are dependent on a number of factors – diet quality, feed intake and livestock.

We know that certain additions to feed can reduce methane emissions by up to 35%, and by focusing on producing higher edible protein animals. Innovation and forward thinking offer many solutions, but equally come at a cost that may be beyond the majority of our family farmers.

Costs

For this reason, we cannot expect farmers to take on the cost of increased regulation and expectations on the sector without the appropriate financial and policy support. There must be joined-up thinking, not just dictating from the top-down.

However, too often people only talk about the emissions coming from cattle and other farming practices and not about what farming and agriculture contributes in terms sequestering carbon, or literally putting it back in the ground. It can and will have a major impact on our carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

National herd

So the evidence is there: we can maintain our national herd and still help reduce carbon and methane gas emissions. The question is "are we willing to make the changes needed to let that happen?"

It will only work if farmers want to change and are part of the change

The European Union, I believe, with some pressure, will provide the leadership and funding for farmers to make the transition, but it will only work if farmers want to change and are part of the change.

Farming is constantly changing. We all know that farmers are some of the most innovative people on the planet; they have to be. I am confident that our farmers, given the right supports, will do what is necessary, and what is right, to protect our planet.

A green farming sector, that maintains its role as guardians of the land, and that has the capacity to earn a decent living, is possible. However, we all need to be open to doing things differently.

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