Climate Bolloxolgy.

Hear similar sh1te from lunchtime on Newstalk.

They had a lady form EPA saying the emissions from farming actually increased in 2020 and that the south east was the worst offenders for overstocking/nitrate run off.

Saibh O'Neill from DCU was on to agree and state that farmers must do more etc.

A guy named Rush from IFA gave his best to educate them a bit and made some good points but it is a set up from the go. He pointed out that we grow grass better than anyone and make great beef, that the subsidies were cut from tillage so hence less tillage. Spoke about clover etc.

When Saibh O'Neill was asked about the National herd increasing she said that its not the national herd, those cattle belong to farmers!!🙄

She let slip that she didn't want tillage , forestry was the way to go.

Long story short. The green agenda is depopulate rural Ireland, plant forests and make us all live in little villages. They are stocking dept of Agri, EPA and NPWS etc with their kind of people and you are fecked if you fancy a steak, rear cattle, like horse racing or going hunting.

Import our food but hey, emissions will be down. Go out into the countryside at the weekend to look at the wolves but make sure you cycle.

FF/FG are willing to let a bunch of eco clowns make daft decisions so that they can cling to power.

B Man

PS. Not a farmer, just cut a bit of silage.

Funny that... currently following a keto diet...so I avoid avocados as they are terrible for the local environment in which they are grown for numerous reasons... I typically eat lots of meat & cheese all of which is produced in Ireland and some nuts that are produced abroad...I try and get Irish grown vegetables but next to impossible...

Have vegatarian friend, who typically eats 2 amount of food as me, and their plate of food is like a UN Congress when you look at the country of origin...how is broccoli from Africa, beans from Canada, Fake meat from some processing plant...how is that sustainable and good for the environment...

Also all the fertilizer, that is produced from fossil fuels that the vegetarian relies on isn't exactly environmental friendly...animal manure is better, but sure let's cut the national herd by 50%...

Why don't the country that buys our beef have that carbon put against their carbon number

How is nuclear not seem as green, the waste it produces is only the rods, which can be stored on site

On your last point about the country that buys our beef should have the carbon charged to them - is the carbon created in making a new car charged to us or where the factory is? Genuine question as I’ve no idea.

I don't know, but I believe it should be end users that have the carbon attributted to them...

Different countries have different areas of expertise, we produce high quality beef, if we only produced enough for our island, then other countries will have increase their production...it's like robbing Peter to pay Paul...

In saying all this, I do believe that we can do better with farming, in regard to biodiversity on farms, more wildlife, trees, hedgerows and less environmental pollution...not the case on all farms

I think a lot of the D4 heads giving out about farmers thinks that all farming could be done on small organic low impact holdings like the cute Costa Rican farmer on the website of their local small batch coffee roaster

we are very much in the era of “something must be done to save the planet- but don’t look at me”

On the issue of climate change , as in so many areas of Irish life within the last decade, the people are being told what to think . Pressure groups and those pushing various ideologies have the ability to use the media and worryingly also the government . Look at the way prime time ads on television increasingly have coloured and gay characters . I have no difficulty with either but to what extent are they representative of the broader population ?

Have no doubt, farming will be sold out to satisfy the Green agenda being pushed by a minority .

I am not saying that we should cling to the subsidies . The subsidies are there because the consumer has not paid for what has been produced .At least not since we joined the then EEC .

The overall thrust of the CAP has not changed that much over recent years. Keep the food on the shelves in plentiful supply and keep it cheap.

The 2030. 50% reduction in carbon that the EU has signed up for is not happening, people will not accept carbon taxes on already expensive fuel, already the politicians are feeling the push back. OPEC have played this brilliantly, they have restricted supply, got the price of oil back up and frustrated moves by governments to impose the carbon taxes, effectively OPEC are now collecting the carbon taxes as well,

The technology to move to zero carbon is still decades away and is very difficult stuff, yes we may have great communication technologies but energy is a different story, we are still highly dependent on fossil fuels. Just because a politician or a media head announces something does not make it happen. Talk is cheap

Also as the OP pointed out agriculture has been unfairly targeted and the producer countries like Ireland rather th a.the consumer countries like Germany are being lumped with the carbon penalties. But Saudi Arabia does not get lumped with carbon penalties for producing oil, in that case the consumer countries get lumped with the carbon penalties. Nobody questions why this is the case.

Where is this food being produced more efficiently and without destroying the environment ? Or are you saying that they should continue to burn down the rainforests and ship food halfway round the world ?

I was challenging your post regarding subsidies. It would be nice if you debated the points I raised rather than introducing issues I didnt raise. Market forces determine consumer food prices - do you accept that subsidies are there to ensure food is still produced i.e. a producer subsidy rather than as a consumer subsidy?

Bit off topic, but I loved this court's report from last week's farmers journal, in which the judge rightly dismissed an epa case taken against a pig farmer. The epa's case was based on a subjective 'sniff' test rather that actually measuring the offending odour particles as per their protocol.

Most epa vehicles I see on the road are lancruisers. Seems to set a very poor example to the general public when they are driving vehicles with such a low mpg, and the rest of us trying to cut our carbon emissions