With a hectic year-end agenda, this pre-Christmas catch up for all Cúl Dara News readers sets out the four Cs on the 2021 agricultural horizon: Climate, CAP, Covid-19 and the Chaos of Brexit.
Ag-Climatise Roadmap
The Roadmap towards climate neutrality for agriculture, published in early December by the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, outlines no fewer than 29 actions summarised below, aimed at meeting Ireland’s climate and environmental objectives by 2030, while maintaining viable farm incomes in the sector.
- Reduce chemical nitrogen use
- Promote protected nitrogen product where chemical fert is used
- Genotype the entire national herd for GHG reduction
- Maximise production of grazed grass
- Enhance animal health and welfare practices to support sustainability
- Reduce crude protein content of livestock feed to minimise ammonia loss
- Invest in novel feed additives to reduce biogenic methane
- Increase share of home-grown protein in livestock rations
- Increase area under organic production by 350,000 ha
- Increase area producing grains and legumes for livestock by 300,000ha
- Further enhance the carbon credentials of the horticulture sector
- Promote the development of sustainable circular bioeconomy within agri-food
- Explore all options for land use diversification
- Increase afforested area, maximise contribution of existing forest to climate mitigation
- Reduce management intensity of >40,000 ha of peat-based soil to reduce CO2 loss
- Protect, increase, enhance the number of hedgerows on farms
- Develop a pilot scheme for on-farm carbon trading as a public good reward for farmers
- Cut agri-energy use by 20%, and increase by at least 20% renewable energy tech for energy hungry farm systems
- Double sustainable biomass production from forests + mobilise it for heat production
- Maximise potential for anaerobic digestion for agri sector with stakeholders
- Undertake knowledge transfer/sharing strategic development
- Set up continued professional development strategy for all advisors
- Establish a network of Sign-Post farms (to promote farmers’ engagement with sustainability)
- Establish Centre of Excellence for Ireland as global leader in climate smart agriculture
- Develop information portal relating to the actions of this roadmap
- Bord Bia to develop initiatives with industry to support farmers to achieve market demands
- Review 2014-20 RDP and consider national fiscal policy to further support climate targets
- Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to be developed with Enterprise Ireland for climate smart agriculture
- Establish a “Future of Farming” dialogue with farmers, scientists, environmentalists, social groups to find practical solutions for productive, sustainable agriculture.
Unsurprisingly, there is more than a passing resemblance between the measures proposed here, and the recommendations from the EU Commission for the Irish 2023-27 CAP National Strategic Plan outlined below.
CAP – EU Commission wants much more ambition from Ireland on climate and environment
Last Friday, the EU Commission published its recommendations to each of the EU 27 Member States as to what it expected to see in their CAP National Strategic Plans.
This is crucial for Irish farmers, and it confirms the trajectory of the Ag-Climatise Roadmap. Climate, biodiversity and the environment generally will be the key issues facing them.
For Ireland specifically, the EU Commission recommends that the CAP Plan be designed to include an array of payment schemes, incentives or conditionalities to achieve the following:
Farm viability
- Support farmers in getting a higher share of the value chain through innovation and diversification (environmental labelling, quality schemes, organic farming…) and POs;
- Improve farmers’ ability to invest in sustainable practices through better access to finance;
- Improve viability of small/medium size farms, incl. in disadvantaged areas, by redistributing direct payments through convergence and redistributive income support.
Environment and climate
- More sustainable farming practices through payments conditional on appropriate requirements, including support for carbon farming;
- Improve nutrient management through optimised fertilisation and precision farming;
- Encourage greater efficiency of enteric fermentation in livestock;
- Stop deterioration of peatlands through conditionality, carbon farming and extensive grazing;
- Encourage more tree planting in various ways, including agro-forestry;
- Increase area farmed organically, including through steps to develop markets;
- Improve conservation of grasslands and heathlands with extensive grazing, adapted mowing and prevention of burning;
- Improve resilience to climate risk on grassland and fodder crops, incl through links between arable and livestock farms and the creation of fodder reserves.
Socio economic fabric of rural areas, societal demands
- Improve animal health and welfare especially for pigs (tail docking) and male dairy calves;
- Reduce use and risk of pesticides by fostering switch to integrated pest management;
- Improve access to land and finance for young farmers by supporting succession;
- Improve accessibility of basic rural community services to increase social inclusion;
- Develop the bio economy through agri renewable energy and other non-food areas.
Knowledge transfer
- Increase integration between research, advisors, education, farming community, peer-to-peer learning and interactive innovation projects.
While these are ostensibly recommendations, the EU Commission will be assessing the Irish National Strategic Plan, when it comes up for vetting some time next year, based on how well it incorporated them through schemes that more closely link payments with the environmental, climate, public goods, social and economic objectives of the Green Deal.
The trilogues between the EU Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council are expected to result in an agreement on the CAP draft legislation by the end of the EU Portuguese presidency at the end of June 2021, with a final legal text ready by year end. The CAP transition is in place for 2021 and 2022, with direct payments and schemes largely rolled forward as per the current rules, but with funding from the new MFF.
The new CAP, therefore, would be implemented from 1st January 2023, based for Irish farmers on the Irish National Strategic Plan, which by then will have been vetted by the EU Commission to ensure it meets their nine objectives for CAP.
COVID-19 giving us a preview of Brexit chaos
The emergence of a new, more readily transmissible strain of COVID-19 in the UK has led many EU countries, including France, to shut down all air and sea links with the UK for 48 hours or more, effectively eliminating the Ireland-UK-France land bridge we have heard so much about in relation to Brexit, but two weeks early, and without notice.
Multiple reports of stranded consignments of fresh Irish fish destined to France, or of shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables on British supermarket shelves, are a bit of a sneak preview, two weeks early, of the kind of disruption and impact we can expect from 1st January. Clearly the UK is poorly prepared for what is to come.
Speaking of the actual Brexit chaos…
The 20th December midnight deadline imposed by the EU Parliament has come and gone (a bad thing), and negotiators have decided to continue to talk (a better thing if they can get somewhere).
We keep hearing that fishing is the last sticking point. While fish accounts for less than 1% of EU GDP, and a miserly 0.1% of the UK’s, fishing rights have a strong symbolic value when it comes to sovereignty and regaining control, two themes which Brexiters have built much of their campaign on. It is also more tangible, and therefore easier for the British public to get outraged by, than some of the arcane issues around the “level playing field” – another issue which may or may not be sufficiently resolved.
So, where to now? We hear that the talks will continue, but the European Parliament will not have time to approve it by 31st December, and we know they are not minded to see it be implemented tentatively, with ratification by the EP to follow. Furthermore, UK PM Boris Johnson today also rejected the prospect of continuing negotiations past 1st January or asking his Parliament to ratify it any later.
Is it too much wishful thinking to hope that the early taste of pre-Christmas vegetable shortages and scenes of traffic gridlock may focus the minds of negotiators on the importance of reaching a deal?
© Catherine Lascurettes, Cúl Dara Consultancy
