Climate madness: Proposed Irish cattle cull to 'cut methane emissions' will lead to food shortages - Mattie McGrath

James Wilson
NewsTalk
Tue, 30 May 2023 15:08 UTC

© Houses of Oireachtas via Flickr

Matthew McGrath is an Irish Independent politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary constituency

Culling the national herd will lead to food shortages, TD Mattie McGrath has predicted.

Government documents have suggested up to 65,000 cattle may need to be culled every year for three years in order to comply with the nation's climate targets.

A 550kg dairy cow emits roughly 320-330 grams of methane every day and the Government has agreed the agriculture sector should cut its emissions by 25% over the next eight years.

Deputy McGrath predicted the impact on rural Ireland's economy would be "dire" and send food prices soaring further.

"We have all the predictions of dire consequences of the climate crisis but are we going to die off ahead of it?" he told The Hard Shoulder.

"We'll have no food to feed ourselves, hyper inflation of food prices and decimation of our agricultural products that we have here which are very valuable to the economy and are very low carbon exports."

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association President Pat McCormack said it was important any such cull was optional but Deputy McGrath said he doubted that would be the case.

"There's no such thing as voluntary," he said.

"It's going to be compulsory; they're being demonised and attacked from every which way as being dirty people, uncaring for the environment - which is a fallacy and there's no science behind that."

Climate change

Deputy McGrath also said people who do not believe in the scientific orthodoxy behind climate change are being unfairly vilified.

"What about the climate people who are telling us we're on fire?" he said.

"There's no proper science behind that and you can't question that, we can't have a proper decent robust debate.

"People are silenced and are literally cancelled if they go against the narrative."

There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activity and if temperatures continue to rise it will trigger extreme weather events, cause the extinction of species and displace millions from their homes.

Comment: What the eco-idiots forget is that their beloved plant-based diet depends on carbon dioxide, methane, and all the other trace gases in the atmosphere:

We have all heard what too much CO2 can lead to, but so far the biosphere have never been exposed to too low levels of CO2. But what if it did? And please, this topic has nothing to do with the ongoing discussion about global warming. We are talking about the last ice age and a hypothetical scenario where the terrestrial flora and fauna would have suffered because of too little CO2.

Apparently the agricultural revolution happened 11,000 year ago all over the world because of increased levels. Pre-industrial levels are said to have been 280 ppm.

Aerobic plants have three types of photosynthesis. C3, C4 and CAM. The original and most common type is C3. C4 and CAM have evolved to deal better with heat, drought and lower levels of CO2. C4 is a little better than CAM in that regard.

Some quotes found on the net:

"Studies have shown that the average biomass production of modern C3 plants is reduced by approximately 50% when grown at low (180-220 ppm) CO2, when other conditions are optimal ... (The abortion of all flower buds) suggested that 150 ppm CO2 may be near the threshold for successful completion of the life cycle in some C3 species." "Although some C3 plants like palm trees can cope with a combination of high oxygen levels and warmer, sunnier, and dryer conditions, most C3 plants can lose efficiency in productivity of up to 40% in warm, sunny, and dry conditions." (But less CO2 means more stomata, and the more stomata, the more water loss)

"About 85% of all plant species are C3. All trees, fruits, vegetables, and most food crops are C3. The only C4 food crop exceptions are maise, millet, sorghum, and sugarcane. On average, at 150ppm the primary C3 plant productivity was reduced an average 92% as measured by dry weight biomass. During glacial periods land ecosystems have much lower productivity."

The climate change crazy train is gathering speed:

• Climate laws threaten UK family farms as land is bought for carbon credits
• This should go well: New Zealand govt. tells farmers to reduce carbon emissions or face financial penalties
• Farmers' protest moo-vement reaches Finland: Cows brought to Helsinki University after beef ban
• Trudeau's nitrogen policy will decimate Canadian farming
• WEF orders governments to start limiting food to fight climate change
• The Great Zero Carbon Criminal Conspiracy