The inequity of what the food and farming sector have to put up with was laid bare this week with the publication of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) energy balance numbers.

The reality is that productive land is being moved out of the food and farming sector and into the energy sector, which is then essentially being used to feed power hungry data centres.

So while the tillage, livestock and agribusiness sectors are effectively being forced to downscale, the data centres in the Dublin suburbs prosper.

Where is the equity in our national efforts to decarbonise farming and society?

Dovea launch new laboratory in Tipperary

It’s not often the livestock industry gets to celebrate investment and opportunity in the Irish livestock breeding business. The investment launched last week by Dovea Genetics, near Thurles in Tipperary, and the US company Sexing Technologies is another positive step for the Irish AI industry.

It has been a struggle to get this technology into everyday use on Irish farms. We in the Irish Farmers Journalfirst invested in an industry trial to assess the effectiveness of this technology in 2013.

Yes maybe there could have been a bigger step in terms of industry centralisation, but we must keep going forward and maybe that will come in time. For now we will just have to recognise the investment and commitment by the board and management of Dovea Genetics.

The investment allows Irish livestock farmers choice and the opportunity to invest in this new technology. Dovea Genetics, with its industry partners Eurogene and Bova AI, who are all going to generate sexed semen in this laboratory deserve congratulations.

First gene edited wheat harvested

As Irish farmers toil with the wheat and barley harvest, the first crop of gene edited wheat has been successfully harvested at the John Innes Centre in Norfolk in the UK.

That is a big step towards the full commercialisation of such crops in England. I understand two further grain varieties are growing at the Rothamsted Research Centre, and the crop breeder’s aim is to multiply up the resultant seed during 2025.

The objective is that that gene edited grains will then be grown on commercial farms alongside control plots in 2026.

The varieties are supposed to have superior baking qualities, and one barley variety is aimed at lowering livestock methane emissions.

In essence, this technology is aimed at growing more nutritious foods with less resource and less environmental impact. Irish and European growers can’t be left behind.

Urgent support required

The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) is clear that farmers need more support as they invest in combating climate change.

Will this support compensate for the reduced grass growth? Will it pay for feed additives? Will the factory pricing grid be reviewed or will the factories continue with bonus schemes related to cattle breed for earlier slaughter? Some innovative thinking is needed if forestry planting is to be reignited.

If the Government thinks 15 years of forestry premiums are sufficient for a land owner and farmer that is effectively signing over land into forestry forever, they can think again.

The rapid uptake in organics is driven on a cheque in the post and a short-term commitment for the farmer. We need realism in the change drivers, and an understanding that you can’t change years of livestock breeding overnight.