THE FACT OF THE MATTER
BY PAUL HOPKINS
It used to be that the only two certainties in life were death and taxes. Now, we can add two more. One, the heavy rainfall across Kilkenny and other counties recently is not necessarily enough to offset damage being done to farming by drought: and, second, as we now realise, climate change is a reality and is not going away anytime soon
Our relationship with the weather, as an island people on the edge of the Atlantic, has traditionally been a curious one, to say the least. When it rains, “it pours” and when the sun shines “it’s too hot”. It’s the basis of our daily conversation – sure, what else would we be talking about, says you.
We Irish may experience four seasons in any given day, but in recent years we have been hit by once-in-a-generation weather events.
The weather has tested our emergency services, government agencies and communities, some working in dangerous situations to ensure the power stayed put and the elderly and vulnerable were safe.
Urban folk have traditionally seen farmers – and, note, we farm 70% of our land – as “wealthy people, never done complaining about being poor”. The weather of recent times has put paid to that silly notion.
The main issue is animal welfare and farmer stress – because a lot of them are worried about their animals.
The weather has placed a spotlight on Irish farmers and the way we farm in this country.
I would agree with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), that some commentary has been misplaced and displays a lack of understanding of how food production works.
When it comes to coping with climate change, there’s no doubt that challenges lie ahead. Challenges for us all – fundamentally about the choices you and I make in how we live, move, consume and produce. The IFA says farmers will not shirk from such challenges. Big questions are being asked of them, they say. On climate, a national policy position sets out “an approach to carbon neutrality in the agriculture and land-use sector, including forestry, which does not compromise capacity for sustainable food production”.
On water quality, agriculture is also highlighted as being the sector which most often causes pressures to “at-risk” river and lake water bodies. But, given as I said that we farm 70% of our land, farming will always have the largest environmental impact. Perhaps, just once too often the “rich poor farmers” have become the whipping boy in the debate on climate change.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures show that the agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions have actually fallen by 3.5% since 1990 – but with our exports rising – while our overall emissions have increased 10.4%, driven mainly by increases in the transport sector of a whopping 139%,
We have to tackle carbon emissions from Irish households being the highest in Europe, but our beef and dairy farmers are among the most efficient in the EU when it comes to such. The ways of technology is changing farming every day, with more efficient use of machinery and energy consumption.
Meantime, the ways of the weather in recent years has given us all food for thought, as we look to the future, sun lotions and large umbrellas to hand …
