"Green" policies are destroying this country

What is "right sized"? If a farmer has 200 acres in tillage, should he only have 100? WHat then if another farmer has the other 100. Is that a right size or what? Explain please. The opposite is actually happening. Even with subsidies to ensure food is produced to high quality, in quantity and cheap, lots of small farmers are leaving. 1 in 16 farmers are under 35.

How many farms do we need? Subsidies wouldn't be needed if the price paid for the produce was enough to ensure all along the chain made a profit. If farmers got paid more for what they supply a lot would cut back naturally. Same money and less work. Winning. The global population is growing. Farming too will have to expand to feed them.

It may feel to you farmers are owed a living. You're feelings are wrong I'd say. Farmers are out in all weather in all seasons every day working for a living. Same can't be said for many of the population.

Farming is not a disastrous climate impact. Farming has been done for millenium. Farming practices can and will change to reduce it's impact but there is no zero impact to the climate for food production. No other industry apart from agriculture actually sequesters carbon, yet there is no credit given to ag for that. Yet ya can "offset" carbon by paying extra on flights for example.

I would think the number of farms will reduce, rather than splitting 200 acres across 2 farms. The latter is not a net reduction in production, its just spreading the problem.

So maybe 2 farms managing 200 acres become 1 farm managing 200 or even 150 acres.

Farmers would get paid more if we produced less. oversupply of product makes it cheap.

And obviously we import a lot of the same product that we produce in ireland, so there is massive access to oversupply.

We all know we can easily buy cheap beef imported from South America etc.

Reducing output will increase prices for farmers. Win Win.

Farmers get a viable price for their product and so to the other stakeholders in the supply chain.

Less subsidies for the tax payer also.

I agree with you on the carbon offsetting.

It isnt right that anyone offsets emissions and generally it just shifts the problem elsewhere and of course it does nothing to actually encourage reduction in emission output - same too for Agri offsets.

Should we dish out population growth targets? Nothing adds to global emissions like population growth, and particularly people in emerging economies who want to experience some of what we take for granted, an airline flight and a holiday perhaps

Because Because if everyone thought like that we would be fooked...wait what China, India and most of the emerging markets think like that...ok OP you have a point, get yerself down the bog.

The only answer to your question is one you know already politics, a group of people have found that pushing emotive issues can provide them with what they want in life. It's really that simple I'm afraid.

Because Eamon Ryan believes that a tiny country like us -- who half the world hasn't heard of -- will lead by our good example and everybody else will be awestruck and follow the lead of plucky little Ireland. Yes, he genuinely is that deluded (along with a number of posters on this thread who have said the same thing). Eamon also believes it's ok for him to take delegations to the other side of the planet by plane so that he can "talk to other world leaders" (his exact words). We are being sold down the Swanee by a second rate bicycle salesman with delusions of grandeur and utter contempt for the people who will be affected both at home and abroad. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- the Greens are not just incompetent, they are evil.

its not about increased productivity, its about over supply.

Thats my point.

Youve all the beef produced in Ireland, plus all the beef produced in other countries. Remember, we mave more cattle than people in ireland!

The sheer volume of beef being produced keeps the price down, because its a plentiful commodity and it obviously creates a lot of emissions in the process, not to mention all the transportation emmisions.

If there was less beef produced, the price would rise, and yes, Tesco would be paying more for it and the farmers would get more for their product.

But that aint going to happen until we cut the oversupply!

The problem is at the moment that every man and his dog is producing beef, which is why the price is low.

Simple Supply and Demand.

It seems you want a situation where farmers in ireland over produce a product, a product which is also being over produced by other countries, but you still expect consumers to pay top dollar for it and you dont see any need to reduce production from an environmental perspective.

its not sustainable and thats why we need to continue to reduce the number of farms in operation and overhaul those that remain so that they produce lower product volumes, more sustainably.

I think we are half doing that already by making the cost of living so expensive.

less people in western developed nations are having kids and family units are smaller than they used to be.

It's a batshït crazy idea and here's why. First, we aren't destroying the planet. The planet will be just fine regardless of what humans do. On a planetary timescale, even nuclear Armageddon would be brushed off like it wasn't even a thing.

Second, what you are actually advocating for is the creation of hundreds of little fiefdoms around the world. Trade keep to a bare minimum, natural resource hording, and everything else that goes with it. We tried that as a species before and it wasn't very good. A more interconnected planet leads to a more peaceful planet, like we have now.

Third, "sustainable" what does that actually mean? It's a buzzword, nothing more, nothing less. To green acolytes it means reducing human population and stardards of living. Perversely, this is the exact opposite to what we should be doing. All the major international bodies have carried out countless studies and shown that increasing the standard of living actually reduces pollution and overpopulation in those countries.

I honestly wish folks like yourself would take a step back and actually examine the consequences of your proposed actions beyond "sustainability" and the planet will die if we don't act now.

How do you reduce the number of farms? Are you suggesting that farmers just stop farming? Leave the land idle? Come on now. Is that what you are suggesting?

Not being smart Battle but there's an entire thread dedicated to that useless shower in FFG.