ireland farm
Young farmer blasts carbon emission targets: 'Govt has turned its back on Irish food and agriculture industry'
A young Irish farmer has taken aim at Climate Minister Eamon Ryan's strict carbon emission targets which will require a reduction in the national herd - after the Minister said he hopes to see the legally binding targets for cuts in emissions signed off this month.

The Green Party leader is demanding a 30% carbon cut to be imposed on the agriculture sector, and claimed that the targets, although being met with opposition, are needed for climate reasons, as well as for the restoration of 'water quality and biodiversity', as he warned that we "cannot lose our environment" despite building opposition to the proposed cuts from farmers.


Comment: 'Water quality and biodiversity' are admirable goals, but how does the Green Party leader suppose people will eat in the short term?


The leader of the Greens has previously claimed that farmers will be provided with alternative sources of income and will be financially rewarded for taking on practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.


Comment: Perhaps they will sell out, but once those farmers are gone, so is the knowledge, and the land will be sold off, never to be returned to small agricultural owners: England's farmers to be paid to 'rewild' land, despite soaring food costs & supply issues


It emerged today that both Minister Ryan and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalgoue are due to meet for discussions this week, with Minister Ryan reportedly 'confident' that the sectoral targets requiring a cut in the national herd will be put forward before the month is out - as he reaffirmed his commitment to introducing the targets.


Comment: We'll probably be able to add Ireland to this growing list: Farmer protests spread across the globe


North Tipperary farmer Maurice, who runs the popular online platform and lifestyle business 'The Long Acre' has slammed the targets, admitting that the Minister's renewed commitment to introducing the controversial targets came as no surprise.

Speaking to Gript, he said: "Minister Ryan's announcement is no shock to me, he is a wheel in a much larger machine that is taking over Europe with their sole focus of taking control of the food supplies and natural resources on the land owned by the people".

The young farmer turned vlogger and businessman warned that the Government and figures such as Minister Ryan are making it 'impossible' to run family farms, and said that the Government had 'completely turned its back' on the Irish food and agriculture industry by giving Minister Ryan free reign to implement oppressive policies.
"They are making family farms impossible to be profitable by constantly adding restrictions and additional costs on enterprises, and we saw that earlier this year the government assisted in the deliberate price poaching, using the virtue-signalling excuse of the conflict in Ukraine to their advantage to make all sundries and supplies necessary for farming completely unaffordable. The farmers who made the hard choice of purchasing such goods with the unnecessary added profits and taxes attached have completely decimated their work capital, and I believe that the full effects of this will not be seen or felt until next Spring.
"Ireland's Government has completely turned its back on the Irish food and agriculture industry in the last few years by allowing Eamon Ryan to act as a tyrant, which he sees fit to do without ever having to answer questions or take heed of the advice of farmers and those in rural Ireland who understand the impact of such decisions.

The farmer insisted that Ireland's national herd is not the problem, as he highlighted the hypocrisy of green politicians using private planes for travel.
"Ireland's national herd is not the problem when it comes to emissions. Minister Ryan and his colleagues cause more pollution in one year than most farms through their constant use of private planes to Europe to be given their next round of orders from the elites who I believe are teaching them how to deliberately sabotage a nation, its culture and its people.
"Until Irish people take a unified stand against all of this nonsense from our Government, rural Ireland and farming is heading for disaster," he added.

"We need the 35% figure for agricultural carbon emissions to be corrected. This is a false figure as it represents the 20 million tons of carbon produced on farms - but has not taken into account the carbon sequenced by our grass , crops and hedgerows on our farms, which proves it is actually a false figure.

He added: "As well as this, carbon tax on Agri diesel should be cancelled due to the fact that carbon tax is designed to change people's habits to greener energy, and we have no alternative fuel".

Maurice highlighted a Teagasc report which he said correctly outlines that the carbon tax results in a pay cut to farmers and contractors - as he noted that farmers are price takers who cannot pass on such an increase in costs to their consumers.

"Our Government signed up to the Paris Climate Agreement, which clearly states that we are to "reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a manner that does not threaten food production".

"The United Nations claim that the world's food production needs to rise by 70% by 2050 due an increase in world population. It's worth noting that in Ireland, we have the lowest emissions in the world for the food that we produce, so we need to be part of this rise in production to help the world avoid famine," he concluded.

Minister Ryan said all three Government parties supported the Paris Climate Accord, adding that he predicts they will come to an agreement for cuts in emissions in the agriculture sector.

Ireland has pledged to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Long Acre has previously slammed such green policies as 'unfair'. In an interview with Gript in September last year, Maurice said it was deeply unjust that rural people were being forced to make hugely difficult sacrifices owing to such policies.

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