Midland areas could be hit with 'no ploughing' restrictionsThe Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has confirmed that proposals are being examined which may include recommending a ban on ploughing and the use of minimum till/no till cultivation techniques on carbon rich soils. The details were revealed to the Independent TD for Laois Offaly, Carol Nolan, in response to a parliamentary question she submitted seeking confirmation of plans to prohibit ploughing on certain land areas in the midland counties. According to Minister McConalogue, the main objective of GAEC 2 is the preservation of carbon-rich soils, which requires protection of wetland and peatland to be implemented within each Member State. If their ploughing land is taken from them by EU diktat, what will that mean in real terms? We need to know what the end-point of this process is going to look like, and we need to know now,” Deputy Nolan concluded

Source: Irish Independent September 12, 2022 03:05 UTC