Minister Hogan in Laois for the National Ploughing Championships- Welcomes agri-business growth in harmony with the Environment

Minister Phil Hogan today (24 September 2013) attended the National Ploughing Championship in Laois and took the opportunity to highlight the relationship between agriculture and the environment.

“Economic development is a major concern of people everywhere including the farming community. Crucial to this is the requirement to sustain and improve good quality water supplies as an economic development objective rather than solely as an environmental requirement.

I’m pleased to say that the farming community has not been found wanting where its commitment to the environment and water quality is concerned,” he said.

In recent years, the income to farms from milk has increased as have the costs of production. The Irish farming and agri-business sectors are now working towards a 50 per cent increase in milk supply by 2020, arising from the lifting of EU milk production quotas.

This presents an enormous economic development opportunity for the farming and agri-business sectors and for all agricultural/rural counties. This is the most significant economic development opportunity for agricultural/rural counties in decades. It will also impact positively on rural towns and villages.

A study carried out for Glanbia in 2012 by Ernst and Young/UCC found that the economic value of milk expansion in the Glanbia catchment (mainly the south east and east) where a 60 per cent increase in milk supply is planned, would rise from €1.5 billion in 2011 to €2 billion in 2020. This would lead to an increase in employment from 5,500 to 7,500 full-time equivalents €“ an increase of some 2,000 jobs.

It is expected that there will be further expansions post 2020. A fact not unnoticed by Minister Hogan: “Expansions of this magnitude bring with them additional pressures on the environment.

Sometimes our Agriculture Sector comes under the environmental spotlight.

This is not because we have an inefficient agriculture sector €“ quite the contrary we have a carbon efficient agriculture and food sector €“ it is simply due to the scale of our agriculture industry in our overall economy.

The significance of the agriculture and food sectors in Ireland brings a sharp focus to the parallel international priorities of climate protection and sustainable food production in a world with a projected population of nine billion people in 2050,” he said.

The Minister continued, “That is both the reality and the context for the national policy development programme which I initiated in January 2012. A low-carbon future and economic development are not mutually exclusive €“ it is possible to have development, including in agriculture that is sustainable on both environmental and economic fronts. A low-carbon future is not a negative concept!”

Expansion plans are also in place for beef under Food Harvest 2020 with a current output value of €1.9 billion, with plans for a 20 per cent expansion in output value by 2020.

Minister Hogan noted, “Yet another example of the farming community embracing the environment is the maintenance of the nitrates derogation. Currently under periodic examination by the EU Commission, it is a critical requirement for farmers, for agri-business and for milk expansion. Notwithstanding this, heavy rain in recent years meant that I had to sign an extension to the slurry spreading in 2011 and 2012.

“With the expansion of cow herd numbers as part of dairy expansion particularly, and notwithstanding productivity gains per animal due to genetic improvements and conversion of animals from beef to milk, it is clear that new pressures will arise for the environment because of increased cow numbers. Agri-economic and environmental success are now irrevocably inter-twined,” he concluded.