45000 dairy cows culled in the event og a No Deal Brexit.

[Chocolatepeanuts]

Live in NI, voted to remain. A friend stated last week that they voted leave- they had to as farmers (as are my family who didn't!).

This is just terrible.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49272343

[Chocolatepeanuts]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49272343

[BobLobLawLLB]

But they will be culled anyway. Dairy cows have the shitty end of the stick from the get go.

[aliensprig]

Probably sweet relief for the cows tbf.

All the more reason to ditch dairy.

[Chocolatepeanuts]

Well most cattle end up being culled at some point. And the dairy will still be consumed. But 45k in one swoop and how many farmers out of business.

[time4chocolate]

Well, there will be even more culling if this gets ratified I would imagine, plus the added bonus of great swathes of the Amazon rainforest disappearing unnecessarily, beef is totally sustainable within the EU we don't need 90,000 tons of it coming from South America. But hey that's ok as long as gas guzzling, diesel spewing cars that no one wants in Europe can be sent to South America whilst at the same time the EU drives home the importance of climate change, sets targets etc.

www.rte.ie/news/world/2019/0628/1059096-

www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/what-is-the-new-south-american-beef-deal-that-will-affect-ireland-1.3942932

Sorry bit of a vent there but feel better for it.

[Chocolatepeanuts]

Time4chocolate I had no idea!! thanks for this.

[Eve]

... its not just the cows being culled, its the loss of income to the farmers and the consequential loss to suppliers of feed, farm equipment etc.

Will hit Northern Ireland's economy hard! but I cant see Westminster caring about that anytime soon!

[BobLobLawLLB]

5 minute video re the life of Dairy cows.


WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources. Around 70 percent of the world’s soy is fed directly to livestock and only six percent of soy is turned into human food.


www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet




It takes 8 bathtubs full of water to make just one hamburger. It is widely recognised that we need to reduce our meat consumption. There is no perfect solution unfortunately, we can only do the best we can.



But those dairy cows go through hell. Their life is a bovine version of The Handmaids Tale! So I won't shed any tears for the perpetrators of their suffering.

[Eve]

.... your argument doesn't represent farming in Northern Ireland.

Most farms are under 100 acres and majority of diary cows spend their life outside. In the winter when indoors the majority are fed silage.

Have you been to a farm in Ireland?

[Focalpoint]

It just shows how bloody ridiculous no deal brexit for Ireland.

Putting a barrier in the way of farmers selling milk to people who live a few miles away. Ending a trade that has been going on for hundreds of years.

And culling livestock over something a stupid as this. The memories of foot and mouth loom large - but there was rationale for that - whereas this is pure madness.

Hopefully this will make the DUP MPs wake up.

[Iamtheworst]

I am a vegan and no fan of industrial farming but this is clearly a disaster.

If the farmers are to be compensated where’s that money coming from? If not, can the rest of us expect our livelihood to disappear without so much as a ‘by your leave’

Is this part of regaining sovereignty?

[timeforakinderworld]

But they will be culled anyway
Not really the point. This will be devastating for farmers. The government also refused to rule out a sheep cull in the UK.

[timeforakinderworld]

Sorry meant to say Wales!

[verticality]

The launch of the new IPCC report today will be interesting - it suggests that we all need to reduce meat and dairy consumption in a fairly drastic way.

The problem with this, though, is that it's effectively a crash: the demand/consumption will still be there. It's not the way to end meat and dairy farming.

[BobLobLawLLB]

Yes, even more devastating for the cows,inside or outside they still walk into that abattoir. But I only comment from an animal welfare viewpoint, and am completely out of my depth politically.

eve yes my family own a farm near Cashel,Ireland.

[bellinisurge]

People conflating this with dairy hate are fucking numpties

[BobLobLawLLB]

[Cailleach1]

Most of the year outside, and predominantly grass fed cattle. I do think that is better welfare. It is a different argument, though.

Gov't couldn't care less about NI. Being used as leverage and faux Union concerns as DUP are the pivot in Westminster. Managed decline.

[lonelyplanetmum]

"new research, published by Hybu Cig Cymru, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and commissioned by the Andersons Centre.
..calculates that combined beef and sheepmeat exports to the EU could decline by 92.5% with lamb export trade “almost completely wiped out”, which would hit market prices badly.
In a no-deal scenario, the 37,000 carcasses a week that are usually sent to Europe could be stopped and this meat would “flood” the domestic market."

Farmer's weekly -www.fwi.co.uk/news/eu-referendum/no-deal-brexit-a-halloween-horror-story-for-sheep-industry

[HeatedRollers]

No comment.

Say something about the animal - outrage. Say something about NI - outrage. Say something about Brexit - outrage.

I will just think it in my head and not type - must be kind and have the same opinion as everyone else.

[Clavinova]

Rumours of a cull are not true apparently - despite the farmers' genuine concerns over 'no-deal';

The Ulster Farmers Union has branded as “scaremongering” predictions that 45,000 Northern Ireland diary cattle could be culled after a no-deal Brexit.

"Nobody in the UFU would hold that view he said, questioning the credentials of the unnamed sources BBC Newsnight based their report on."

"In a no deal Brexit scenario where it might become difficult to supply NI milk to the south, he said, an obvious alternative would be to sell the milk into England instead, he said."

In a formal statement, the UFU said it is not anticipating a cull of dairy cattle in Northern Ireland following a no-deal Brexit.

"Mr Ferguson said: “A no-deal Brexit will be catastrophic for NI farming. Steep export tariffs, a zero per cent tariff on agriculture goods coming from ROI, increased checks and regulations will all cause huge disruption and a logistical nightmare for family-run farm businesses.We are working hard to find ways to mitigate the potential damage of a no-deal. Reciprocal tariffs and deficiency payments to farms businesses, to help address farm gate price collapse, are starting points and at the moment, the most reasonable options."

“At this point in time, we are not even talking about a large cull of animals and we don’t anticipate that we will get to this point. In the event of a no-deal, the dairy industry will find ways to cope if there is a surplus of milk, although it’s not likely to be straightforward and we would expect disruption.Possibly there is capacity in our local processing sector to absorb any extra milk or we may be able to send it to GB.There will be other options and it is irresponsible to jump straight to culling cows as a solution.”^

TUV leader Jim Allister responded that the BBC was “plumbing new depths in anti-Brexit propaganda”.

“When even the Brexit hostile leadership of the UFU repudiates BBC’s latest Brexit scare story you know how preposterous it is,” he said.

"He added: “What those who peddle this nonsense never want to discuss is the opportunity for N.I. agriculture which arises when the Republic prices itself out of the GB market once it is required to pay the matching U.K. tariffs, arising from the EU threat to impose such on British produce."

“Currently the Republic relies on sales to the GB market for the survival of its agri-food industry. In a scenario of mutual tariffs the Republic’s sales to GB will collapse, leaving a huge marketing opportunity for N.I. produce. Alternative outlets within our own U.K. will open up for N.I. as we step forward to fill the void left by ROI being priced out of the market.”

In a statement Defra said: “A widespread cull of livestock is absolutely not something that the government anticipates nor is planning for in the event of no-deal.

“We will always back Britain and Northern Ireland’s great farmers and make sure that Brexit works for them."

www.newsletter.co.uk/news/latest-news/ufu-brexit-cull-of-45-000-ni-cattle-is-scaremongering-1-9026396

[Bornfreebutinbiscuits]

Clavinova the soothing balm of brexit reality drinking cool milk on the a hot day.

[Clavinova]

Bornfreebutinbiscuits

[Cailleach1]

I think Jim Allister should worry more about how his peddling of Brexit as a great thing for NI will catch up with him. Rather than spouting propaganda to suit his agenda.

[jasjas1973]

@time4chocolate

In the meantime, the agreement still needs to be ratified by the national parliaments of all member countries of both blocs, as well as by the European Parliament and EU Council

Were we staying the EU, we could have altered this deal or even blocked it, but what it does show is that there are trade offs in FTA's !

The ones the UK will seek to strike with USA, India, China etc will have even more unpalatable effects, as more powerful countries seek to exploit our weakness eagerness