Dairy cows on William Irvine’s farm. Picture: Cliff Donaldson
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) dairy committee has met with its counterparts from the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA). The meeting took place at the Armagh City Hotel on 6 June with discussions focused on environmental constraints and milk pricing in the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
Speaking after the meeting UFU dairy chair Kenny Hawkes said, “It was a great opportunity to meet with the IFA’s dairy representatives, and the discussions were extremely open and insightful. The UFU and IFA have many shared goals and have built up a very strong relationship over the years.
“One of the items that was high on the agenda and dominated a lot of the conversation was climate change targets. The UFU heard first hand from the IFA about recent reports that dairy cows may need to be culled to meet climate change targets. The IFA made it clear that they will continue to challenge any proposed reductions in livestock numbers to avoid a detrimental impact on the dairy sector and wider economy.
“Changes to the Nitrates Action Plan in ROI 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 ROI. In similarity to the IFA, we are extremely worried about this and are monitoring the situation closely.”
During the meeting, the UFU were able to brief the IFA on what is happening in Northern Ireland in relation to environmental challenges.
“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” said Stephen Arthur chairman of the IFA dairy committee, “Regardless of where we are, we are consistently being asked to deliver more for the environment with no additional return from the marketplace.”
Looking forward, both the UFU and IFA committed to meet on a regular basis to discuss shared issues that are impacting the dairy industry on the island of Ireland.
