Mr. Patrick Kent:

Dr. O'Mara nailed it in the sense that the opportunity is there for us to do one little thing and that is to add a small amount of clover seed to slurry applications. That should be sufficient to draw down extra funding. It would reduce our nitrogen inputs, increase our outputs and increase the carbon sequestration. A little bit of chicory could be added. I have done it myself very successfully. There is a particular tool attachment for the back of a slurry tank, a Moscha swivel spout. That should be passed for doing low emissions. It is suitable for doing that rather than the trailing shoe systems, which are too far apart to do that.

I would have to award "man of the match" to Mr. McHugh. It is a tremendous performance and a breath of fresh air. This is where farming is going. We have to measure farming not on yield per acre of product. We going to have to have a yield of profit. Some of the most profitable tillage farmers I know now are organic. However, Ms Westbrook is going to have to get more members into the tillage end. There are fantastic returns there. On zero chemical inputs, there are returns from organic oats of €900. Barley is the same story. There are guys spending €400 on chemicals to get a €50 profit - if that - from conventional farming, as we will call it now.

We have to go back to the drawing board with farming. We need more research. As an organisation, we are not pushing farmers to produce more because we have no vested interest in harvesting levies. We just take a membership, so we tell it as it is. The ICSA does not take levies. We are not production oriented. We want farmers to make more profit, we want sustainability and we want to keep farmers on the land. In remote parts, farmers have had a very difficult last week. I have visited farms in mountain areas and in lowland areas. Sheds have fallen down and killed sheep. There is going to have to be funding for some of these people. They are in a vulnerable position. Some people in the glasshouse industry talk about vegetable production. There is a massive one in Wexford. It just shows the vulnerability we have with climate. It might be infrequent timewise but when it happens it is a disaster for the individuals involved.