IFA Dairy Committee Have Special Meeting on Water Quality

The IFA Dairy Committee had a special meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Local Authority Water Programme (LAWPRO), Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme advisors (ASSAP), and Dairy Sustainability Ireland in county Laois today (Monday) including a visit to a local river on water quality.

Speaking after the meeting, IFA National Dairy Chair Stephen Arthur outlined that Irish dairy farmers are more conscious than ever of the importance of maintaining high levels of water quality.

“Dairy farmers recognise the importance of water quality in Ireland. This can be seen by the willingness of farmers to engage in the ASSAP programme and the positive results this programme is generating,” he said.

“I would encourage all dairy farmers to take the opportunity to engage with ASSAP where possible and I am calling on the dairy industry to give more support to ensure we have the required level of ASSAP advisors on the ground. It was great to have the opportunity to meet with the EPA and LAWPRO today and engage on how to protect water quality. This is something every farmer want to ensure.”

“There is a lot of information now been generated by the different bodies concerned with water quality in Ireland and this information must make is way back to farmers so they can make the correct decisions on farm,” he added.

“It has taken a long time for this meeting to happen, which was not helped by Covid, and I hope these meetings can become a regular occurrence as we all strive to protect and enhance water here in Ireland. This is achievable by all working together and giving the necessary time for the benefit of on-farm changes implemented by farmers to be fully measured,” Stephen Arthur concluded.