Mr. Shane Fitzgerald:

Regarding an extended grazing period, that is low-hanging fruit. I am a dairy farmer with 200 cows in Waterford. Some people would call that an intensive farm but there is no such thing as an intensive farm in this country. Some people would lead one to believe that having more than 100 cows constitutes intensive farming. We have had our cows out full-time, day and night, and they were only been brought in today. That has been of major benefit to ourselves and the environment. Very little slurry was produced and we have not had to buy any feed. It is very efficient and we are self-sufficient. We have a unique and competitive advantage in this country. Young farmers are educated. We are all measuring grass and can utilise it to the best of its ability. In other countries such as Holland, farmers are paid a bonus for their milk for having cows outdoors for 60 days. In the UK they get paid a bonus for having them outdoors for 120 days. Mr. Keane mentioned we have cows outdoors for an average of 190 to 200 days. Why can an eco-scheme not be developed to encourage farmers to graze cows outdoors for up to 250 days or to add an additional days to what they had in previous years? That could be monitored through Bord Bia. That is recorded there. There are ways of doing that. Having extended grazing is a low- hanging fruit. It would be a win-win for the farmer and for the environment. It is definitely a measure that should not be overlooked.

Briefly, on hedgerow management and the habitat area, there are four principles with respect to hedgerow management, namely, maintain, retain, enhance and create. First, we have to maintain and retain what we already have. That is a key point. It is great for people to set new hedgerows and that is important but there is no point in planting new hedgerows if you do not maintain those they already have. That is what happened with previous schemes such as the action-based schemes like the green, low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, where new hedgerows were planted but the old hedgerows were being managed in a box shape. They were cut very low and narrow, which was not good for birds, insects or wildlife. It is important they are managed properly. Farmers in derogation are doing certain things already. They are leaving hawthorn trees every 300 m, they are cutting hedgerows on a three-year cycle or cutting a third of the farm every year. Why can every farmer not do that? That would be simple to do. That is an important point. Hedgerow management needs to improve. We all see hedgerows that are cut too tight and that is not good for biodiversity. We have the infrastructure already in place for wildlife; we just need to look after it better. Introducing an eco-scheme is the perfect way to do that. Mr. Keane mentioned the other points raised and I will not go into them.

On efficiency with respect to the age of first calving, milk recording and faecal sampling, there needs to be more for productive and efficient farmers in eco-schemes. We cannot have them all geared towards reduction, particularly for young farmers. We want to be as efficient as we can be to protect our future. It is important eco-schemes also incorporate some of those more efficient measures.