Macra seeks meeting with Green MEP over his letters to banks on livestock loans to farmers

Macra na Feirme has recently written to Green party MEP Ciaran Cuffe requesting a meeting over his letter regarding lending to young farmers for growth in their livestock enterprises. 

To date, they say no response has been received by Macra na Feirme to the invitation to meet.  

"It would appear that this politician has little interest in solution design or engagement with the Irish citizens that his comments directly impact, young farmers," said Macra na Feirme National President John Keane

Macra said the Green MEP's comments earlier today had done little to appease the anger among Macra na Feirme’s young farming members.   

“It reinforces the common belief among the farming community and young farmers that the Green party have little regard for life outside the M50” Mr Keane said. 

Earier today, Ciarán Cuffe accepted that it was "wrong to single out young farmers" as the whole economy needs to reduce emissions.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Cuffe said: "I certainly shouldn't have singled out agriculture when the entire economy needs to reduce its emissions and in fairness to what my colleagues are doing in Government, they are working to incentivise organics, biomethane, forestry, and all of these have a role to play in reducing our emissions.

"But I do think that we are reaching limits in some areas and an area that has seen a real explosion in greenhouse gas emissions in recent years has been dairy farming."

At the recent annual Macra na Feirme conference, attendees heard from Eoin Lowry of Bank of Ireland that across all farms in Ireland, only 30% have debt on farms. The level of debt across all farms decreasing by 25% over the past decade.  

"It may come as a surprise to those flying back and forth to Brussels on aircrafts that are currently not included in any climate targets of actions, that Irish young farmers are leading the way in environmental practices," Mr Keane said.  

Macra stressed that Irish livestock sector is widely regarded as a global leader in terms of emissions and embracing environmentally friendly measures.  

Macra na Feirme says it wants to engage constructively with MEP Cuffe and wishes to outline the positive role young farmers are playing and will continue to play in climate action.