It is about time and maybe even late in the day, but the impact of the Nature Restoration law and all that it entails seems to be getting the attention it deserves right now.

This week An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has come out suggesting plans for large scale ‘rewetting’ of farmland are ‘going too far’.

MEP Billy Kelleher, a member of the RENEW grouping in Brussels sounded the alarm also in the last week, rightly suggesting that little or no economic impact assessment had been carried out on the impact of such laws on Irish farmers.

Tensions

There is no doubt both will bring tensions between Government partners to a new level. However, the impact of the Nature Restoration law is just too big to ignore.

The impact on farms will last generations, and will completely change the economic value of land. We watch and listen with interest.

Suckler farmers exceed expectations in joining scheme

Once again we see farmers willing to step up and invest in their farming sector – this time the suckler sector.

The Minister had hoped that 20,000 suckler farmers would go into the new suckler scheme in which farmers must invest in better genetics and the environment.

Over 20,000 farmers and over 500,000 cows means the expectations have been exceeded, similar to the recent liming scheme, as well as ACRES.

There is an onus on the Minister to make it happen now so that the lights in rural Ireland remain on and in place.

Despite the gradual slide in suckler numbers this underlines the commitment of farmers to the sector.