A group set up by the Minister for Agriculture to produce a plan to stabilise and then reduce emissions from the dairy sector has produced a draft interim report with 17 recommendations.
The recommendations include a voluntary retirement scheme for dairy farmers and reducing chemical fertiliser usage by 35%.
The Food Vision Dairy Group was set up in January tasked with drawing up a plan for sustainable management of the dairy sector that would initially stabilise greenhouse gas emissions and then reduce them.
It is chaired by Professor Gerry Boyle and held a number of meetings with the main farming organisations, milk processor representatives and government agencies including Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Environmental Protection Agency, and has now issued a draft interim report.
The 35-page long report, seen by RTÉ News, contains 17 recommendations, the first of which is a farm retirement or exit scheme for dairy and cattle breeding farmers.
Details of the voluntary scheme have yet to worked out but the report states its impact on reducing emissions would depend on participating farmers land being restricted from use for dairying or cattle breeding enterprise for some time.
Other recommendations include reducing chemical fertiliser use by 35% and coming up with a method of measuring farm level methane emissions to possibly provide for an emissions trading type scheme to allow dairy and beef farmers trade methane rights.
The draft interim report will be further discussed by the Food Vison dairy group next Monday, when participants give their views on the recommendations, after which its due to be sent to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.
A final report is due to issue before the end of May.
Reacting to the draft report, Pat McCormack, president of the ICMSA said there is potential in the retirement scheme but the critical issue is where the funding comes from and that farmers are in a position to continue farming albeit at a less intensive level whether its exiting, dairying or production of ruminant animals.
On the mooted 35% reduction chemical fertiliser usage, he said, it was extremely disappointing to see that figure in the draft proposal because the debate was not around that level of reduction.
He said a reduction of 35% would be extremely challenging.
Meanwhile, the Irish Farmers' Association said "the Irish dairy sector is one of the most sustainable agricultural sectors in Europe".
The IFA said "placing restrictions on its output is not consistent with its economic and social sustainability – both of which were heavily espoused in the recently published Food Vision 2030 strategy".
"Given the renewed focus on food security, it doesn't make sense to curb production here and have it produced elsewhere with lower standards," the IFA added.
Dr Elaine McGoff, Natural Environment Officer with An Taisce, said today's report is "the direction of travel we need to be moving in".
"I've just seen some of the recommendations and they gave me hope, and we're seriously considering the environmental impact of our food production systems."
She added: "The IPCC report earlier this week indicated we need to urgently move away from tinkering around the edges, to making hard decisions because we're left with no other choice."
