Combining food production with forestry

realitykeeper

Growing fruit trees is a way of increasing Ireland`s food security, reducing greenhouse gases and protecting the local environment. I noticed a certain reticence from the farming community toward recent suggestions regarding Ireland`s food production. The main counter argument being that Brazil cuts down rain forest to produce beef so Ireland should continue to produce beef to make that option less economically viable for the Brazilians - or something like that.

So, why the protests about beef prices? If Irish farmers want to farm beef to keep beef less profitable for the Brazilians, surely they should be demanding the processing plants pay them even less, not more.

Ok joking aside, I think what we really we in Ireland is young farmers. This means incentivizing older farmers to pass the farm business to the younger generations and by that I mean farmers in their twenties. Also, these younger farmers need expert advise and training so this should be readily available to them.

It is important however that young farmers are also encouraged to explore new types of agriculture as opposed to simply following the advise on offer. I say this because in the past, the advise on offer was bad advise, hence our current predicament - lots of beef and dairy farmers not making very much money, a lot of food which could be produced here is imported and our food security as a nation is only great if you happen to be a carnivore as opposed to being a normal person who eats fruit and veg as well.

These incentives to older farmers (some of whom are in their eighties or nineties) to step aside would be great for the future of agriculture but instead there is the fair deal nonsense which has something to do with looking after them in their old age. I think we Irish are not very good at decision making and unless we cope on, we would be better off if another country ruled us.

redbeaard

realitykeeper wrote: »

Growing fruit trees is a way of increasing Ireland`s food security, reducing greenhouse gases and protecting the local environment. I noticed a certain reticence from the farming community toward recent suggestions regarding Ireland`s food production. The main counter argument being that Brazil cuts down rain forest to produce beef so Ireland should continue to produce beef to make that option less economically viable for the Brazilians - or something like that.

So, why the protests about beef prices? If Irish farmers want to farm beef to keep beef less profitable for the Brazilians, surely they should be demanding the processing plants pay them even less, not more.

Ok joking aside, I think what we really we in Ireland is young farmers. This means incentivizing older farmers to pass the farm business to the younger generations and by that I mean farmers in their twenties. Also, these younger farmers need expert advise and training so this should be readily available to them.

It is important however that young farmers are also encouraged to explore new types of agriculture as opposed to simply following the advise on offer. I say this because in the past, the advise on offer was bad advise, hence our current predicament - lots of beef and dairy farmers not making very much money, a lot of food which could be produced here is imported and our food security as a nation is only great if you happen to be a carnivore as opposed to being a normal person who eats fruit and veg as well.

These incentives to older farmers (some of whom are in their eighties or nineties) to step aside would be great for the future of agriculture but instead there is the fair deal nonsense which has something to do with looking after them in their old age. I think we Irish are not very good at decision making and unless we cope on, we would be better off if another country ruled us.

Lol, I can't decide if this is a troll or is it actually possible for someone to be so uninformed and yet feel the need to share their incoherent ramblings.

Actually, reading that last sentence again and it's definitely just a troll.