Speaking after the Teagasc Farming for a Better Future event at Johnstown Castle last week, IFA environment chair Paul O’Brien said that Teagasc put on a very informative open day.

“It’s really interesting to see the research being carried out by Teagasc around technologies that are showing real potential to reduce emissions and make Irish farms even more environmentally sustainable in the future.

“A huge body of work is being undertaken by Teagasc in this area. It’s imperative that Government sets aside adequate funding to continue to support and expand on this research,” he said.

He said the interest among farmers was evident from the size of the crowd and their engagement on the day.

“The Government must remember that agriculture is on a journey to reduce its carbon footprint. Even though there is a large amount of very promising research under way, it will take time to see such research completed and scale up so it can be implemented on farms in a cost-effective manner. Farmers must be afforded this time for the positive results of this research to be realised,” he said.