According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland’s agricultural industry would be responsible for 38% of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.
The Irish Department of Agriculture said that a paper proposing a 200,000-cow decrease was a “modelling document” and “not final policy.”
Cows will have to be “culled” at a cost of around $650,000 to taxpayers over the next three years to fulfil climate emissions limits, according to a Friday analysis.
The materials were obtained via a freedom of information request made by The Farming Independent.
“The Paper referred to was part of a deliberative process – it is one of a number of modelling documents considered by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and is not a final policy decision,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine told the Irish Mirror.
According to Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency, the agricultural sector will account for 38% of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.
According to the Irish Mirror, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has regularly proposed voluntary dairy reduction initiatives.
According to Reuters, the European Commission approved a $1.6 billion payment last month to buy out cattle producers in the Netherlands in order to decrease nitrogen pollution.
