Farmers north and south of the border are worried about the impact of “environmental legislation” on the viability of their farms.
That is according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) whose respective dairy committees have held a cross-border meeting to discuss key issues on the island.
According to Kenny Hawkes, UFU dairy chair, farmers north and south are facing the same key challenges.
“One of the items that was high on the agenda and dominated a lot of the conversation was climate change targets,” he said.
“The UFU heard first hand from the IFA about recent reports that dairy cows may need to be culled to meet climate change targets.
“Changes to the Nitrates Action Plan in the Republic of Ireland and other environmental challenges that the farming industry is facing, were also discussed in detail.
“There is no doubt that huge concerns are mounting regarding the potential direction of travel in an attempt to achieve climate change targets in the Republic of Ireland. In similarity to the IFA, we are extremely worried about this and are monitoring the situation closely.”
Challenges north and south
According to Hawkes, the UFU also highlighted the specific challenges that farmers in the north are facing when it comes to environmental requirements.
Stephen Arthur, chair of the IFA dairy committee, said there is a lot of common ground when it comes to the short-term future outlook for farming communities on the island.
“It is evident that farmers both north and south of the border are concerned about the impact environmental legislation will have on the viability of their farms,” he said.
“Regardless of where we are, we are consistently being asked to deliver more for the environment with no additional return from the marketplace,” Arthur added.
The issue of milk prices and current market conditions was also examined during the IFA/UFU meeting with a focus on how the price paid to farmers in the south has declined since the beginning of the year.
