The @beefplan are marching with a coffin and grim reaper pic.twitter.com/UfOMbILXpC
— Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) May 9, 2019
Eamon Corley of the Beef Plan Movement says beef farmers are getting just €2/hr. #beefsummit pic.twitter.com/wUaAXnI06w
— Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) May 9, 2019
The most worrying thing for me at last night’s #beefsummit was the section of the crowd that heckled any speaker mentioning #climatechange – as if you could shout down reality. I hoped we were beyond this, but it’s hard to see the big picture when you’re not making ends meet.
— Thomas Hubert 🐌 (@tom_hubert) May 10, 2019
Michael Creed “it is time for beef to fight back in the face of climate change and the environment. This fight back should not be in denial but to tackle the issue.” We need to promote that we are global leaders at producing beef and tell our story to avail of the best price. pic.twitter.com/38EC09n6yv
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) May 9, 2019
Last night.
At the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
A reported 1,200 beef farmers from across Ireland gathered for a Beef Summit which was attended by the Minister for Agriculture and Cork Fine Gael TD Michael Creed (above).
The Irish Farmers Journal is reporting that Mr Creed told those gathered that demand for livestock-based products will be affected by public concerns about climate change, biodiversity, diet and health.
He added:
“I think it is time for the beef sector to fight back on these issues. Denial or retribution will not make the fight effective.
“It has to be about the positive story of Irish beef. That is a story of a very natural way of producing beef, on temperate grasslands punctuated by trees and hedgerows and peatlands. It is also a story about farm families, caring for the land in a way that takes account of Mother Nature.”
Meanwhile, also last night but back in Dublin…
Its official.Ireland becomes 2nd country in the world to declare a #ClimateEmergency & Dáil also agreed to endorse all the recommendations of the Oireachtas Climate Action Report .Definitely one of the highlights for me as a @greenparty_ie TD .My children are thrilled. pic.twitter.com/bcQhvYxvqx
— Catherine Martin TD (@cathmartingreen) May 9, 2019
Beef Summit: ‘It is time for the beef sector to fight back’ – Creed (Irish Farmers Journal)
Previously: Meeting Is Murder
Yes fight back AGAINST the environment, after that can we help out the poor Tobacco growers they also have got a rough time lately.
Ireland has been turned into a green desert by farming.
Ireland has the best climate for beef the best soil and the best indigenous breeds
Our meat is the crème del a crème
Maybe instead of mass producing and cross breeding to compete with the cheap end we should concentrate on the premium market also as the beef commands the best quality we produce less
Good grief
High-vis jackets are symbols of immense power and authority.
Plus coffins. And lone piper. Immense symbolism.
Tell you what, though. We’re spoiled. Our beef is lovely. Had some in France recently and it’s not a patch on ours: all stringy and tough, even when cooked nicely (I’m talking bought in a butchers and cooked at home, not in a restaurant).
Now I’m thinking of the lovely cheap steak they have in Argentina. Served with no silly veg–just chips and a nice bottle of Malbec. All for less than a tenner.
I digress.
Very true Andy. I went to a starred Basque restaurant lauded for its steaks and it was obvious it wasn’t Irish beef. Our grass-fed beats the corn-fed steak in Argentina hands down. But the latter is very tender. John Terode (he of Masterchef fame) travelled there to a cattle ranch and did a taste test. Grass-fed wins on flavour, corn-fed on texture. Course a lot depends on the way you cook and rest it. I’ve bought cheap cuts like rump (Irish, grass-fed) but marinaded it, seared at high heat and rested for 10 mins – still amazing.
I’ve only realised recently the value in going to a good butcher. would have normally just picked up steak in super valu. try ribeye steak from lawlors in rathmines, it’s a different product
I used to think Wilson’s in Rathfarnham were the best but have warmed to FXB’s recently. I always feel like I’m pretending to be my Granny when I shop in a butcher’s.
Whatever happened to the oul lad butcher in Terenure that sold game? That’s what we need to be eating more of – venison. Country is full of it.
That was there until fairly recently. Always had a very interesting window. Hmm. Pretty sure they’re closed now.
I love venison. Not sure I could eat it often though.
Hmmm, I’ve just thought of a new industry: “Crass! The corn-grass cross to feed your cattle, producing tender and flavoursome steaks!”.
Could be the new tomacco.
Bloody whingey farmers. Why can’t they be just happy for Larry Goodman who quadrupled his wealth to 2.4bn last year.
Remember when that farmer said he was earning too much money? No me neither. They might have a point but they are never not going to complain and people are unlikely to accuse them of being innovative entrepreneurs either.
It’s going to be interesting to see how FG square this circle. They’re beholden to their voter base and beef will have to be prised from their cold dead hands.
No amount of spin on rural broadband will make a blind bit of difference. No matter though, it’s the EU that will effect the necessary change here.
There’s playing for some pretty high steaks. (Gets coat)
Aaah, where have you been?
I wasn’t sure which of us gets to keep the name…or how to change it.
Oh and the farmers were right not to be cowed.
(Gets blue overalls).
They’ve been milking the EU subsidies for too long now.
The same angry rednecks give out about flooding and drought with no sense of irony. The have turned the land into a sterile landfill which they soak with roundup and piss.
The current waffle about climate change is laughable when most of those shouting
the loudest are the greatest contributor’s themselves, the idea that you shut down
food production and farming borders on madness, as is more akin to let them
“eat cake” in this case eat grass or even trees…fleas farthing in China have a
greater impact than Ireland, and the Chinese won’t take any action to interfere
with their economy even if the place was covered in soot…..it seems that climate
change have replaced the fear of communism as the number one phobia
There are several other conditions to do with the Earths orbit and inclination
that have a lot more to do with climate than carbon, indeed without carbon
we would not survive at all
Absolute nonsense !!
Our emissions are as potent as any. We are missing our targets by a country mile. Second worst in Europe.
Pointing the finger at others does nothing. Everyone must change.
You also need to do your homework on orbital forcing mechanisms. It’s called Milankovitch theory.
Precession (axis wobbling) has a cycle of 19-23 thousand years; obliquity 41K thousand years cycle; and eccentricity has a cycle of 100 -400 thousand years. Our climate is changing far quicker than any of these can account for. We should be in a cooling period. We are not.
Our climate is changing rapidly due to Greenhouse gases. We need to act now.
Lurch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita
McVitty:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-ranked-worst-in-eu-for-performance-on-climate-action-1.3726026
Actually we’re now worst in Europe. We’re on a par with China, which is a country undergoing unprecedented development.
Are we supposed to pat ourselves on the back because we’re not as bad as Saudi Arabia??
Sorry, but we are a disgrace.
Remember the consequences are absolutely dire:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report
I’m all for a warmer Ireland courtesy of Milankovitch, look at the farming expansion
potential and tourism spinoff, and whats more what he discovered is far from theory
its fact, more than a thing or two in relation to carbon contribution to climate are
quite suspect and anything that can be done to slow down the advance of the next
ice age is no bad thing at all, all this opposition those who question the claims of
anti carbon zealots has a touch of McCarthyism that ran ran riot in the US in the
mid 50’s….possibly the next thing that will be called for are prayers after mass
which was all the vogue in the 50’s for the conversion of Russia
This sort of attitude, replicated the world over, is exactly where problems arise. The developed world pollutes far more per capita than anywhere else on the planet, and has enough money to be able to afford to make changes. Thats why change has to begin here.
And nobody is advocating shutting down food production entirely. Just shifting to more sustainable products. Beef is the worst meat possible for the environment, even shifting 50% of our beef consumption or more to chicken would make a huge difference.
Beef farmers are going to go the way of coal miners whether they like it or not – the smarter ones will be moving into alternative industries already.
Exactly. The farming sector adapts. Remember the most powerful behaviour-changer is the consumer.
They should be “mourning” the death of the planet instead.
Beef and dairy industries will die. Good.
All the poor farmers better not give up their day jobs!
It is also a story about farm families, caring for the land in a way that takes account of Mother Nature.
No darling, it is about everything resembling a plant or tree being scraped off the land for miles to accommodate animals you export to GB- It is ALL about your agri-industry doubling the emissions of the entire country. You have nothing positive to contribute to nature sweetheart- absolutely nothing.