Meat factories paid farmers €150m in sustainability bonuses over the past five years, according to the chair of Meat Industry Ireland (MII) Philip Carroll.

Carroll cited earlier cattle finishing as an example of a measure for which farmers can receive a bonus for livestock when speaking at the launch of Teagasc’s Better Farming for Water.

“We already have sustainability bonuses and if you take over the past five years, bonuses have accounted for €150m of the gross transfers from processing into farming families,” the MII chair stated.

Afraid to invest

Dairy Industry Ireland chair Pat Sheahan reported that progressive farmers “don’t know what to do” on improving farm infrastructure, as they are “afraid to invest” in case a further derogation cut sees them forced to cut numbers.

Sheahan commented that although quotas restricted dairy farmers, they did have certainty on where they stood with production.

“We need clarity, we need certainty, we need direction, we need a roadmap and we currently don’t have them,” he said.