Sligo farmers take part in day of action
SLIGO farmers took part in the IFA’s national ‘Day of Action’ on Friday.
The Irish Farmers Association held demonstrations at a number of towns throughout the country at 11am to highlight the twin attack on Ireland’s farming sector from EU CAP reform and the government’s Climate Action Bill.
The Sligo event was held in Ballymote and about 40 local IFA members took part.
Sligo IFA county chairperson Kathleen Henry said that the Day of Action was to “concentrate the minds of people “on the implications for farming of the Climate Action Bill.
“They are looking to reduce the national herd which will not be good for farmers in Sligo and the west of Ireland generally, “she said.
Ms Henry said that a reduction in cattle numbers was going to impact not just on farms but on local industries such as Aurivo. She said: “If the national herd is reduced it is not just going to reduce beef produced locally but also the raw materials for things like butter and cheese.”
And she said it was not just local farmers that will be affected. “Farmers support the local shops and other businesses and if farmers are going to have less money then there is less money going to the local economy,” she said.
Ms Henry said that farmers felt that they were not getting the carbon credits they deserved.
“We would like to see some recognition of the role that farms play in absorbing carbon, through trees, hedgerows and fields.
“We have always looked after the environment and it needs to be recognised that farmers can be a part of the solution rather than being the problem,” she said. In relation to carbon, Ms Henry also pointed out that if the the national herd in Ireland is reduced then beef and other products are going to be brought in here for other countries, such as Brazil.
“The amount of carbon involved in that needs to be recognised as does the fact that large areas of the Amazon rain forest are being burned to make way for agricultural production in Brazil,” she said.