Upcoming Events

National | Environment

no events match your query!

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Will Europe Derail Miliband?s Climate Agenda? Tue Jun 03, 2025 09:00 | Ben Pile
Keir Starmer is cosying up to the EU just as green politics collapses across the continent. Will it give him the excuse he needs to put Ed Miliband and his Net Zero lunacy out of their misery, asks Ben Pile.
The post Will Europe Derail Miliband’s Climate Agenda? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Guardian?s Climate Cult: Fiona Harvey?s Latest Sermon on COP30 Tue Jun 03, 2025 07:00 | Tilak Doshi
The Guardian's Fiona Harvey has delivered her latest climate sermon, in which she claims that "deniers" have now accepted "the science" and moved on to economic arguments ahead of COP30. What tosh, says Dr Tilak Doshi.
The post The Guardian’s Climate Cult: Fiona Harvey’s Latest Sermon on COP30 appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Jun 03, 2025 00:58 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link New Covid Wave Scare Campaign a Massive Flop Mon Jun 02, 2025 19:00 | Rebekah Barnett
Like the Marvel franchise, with its unlimited instalments and spin-offs, a new Covid scare campaign is underway, says Rebekah Barnett. And as with Marvel, its purpose is largely to create demand for merchandise.
The post New Covid Wave Scare Campaign a Massive Flop appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link I Was Too Kind Describing Schools as Institutionalised Childcare. The Reality is Even Worse Mon Jun 02, 2025 17:13 | Joanna Gray
Joanna Gray says she was too kind to describe schools as institutionalised childcare. The reality is even worse. Often they're just a holding pen, or even a pre-custody suite.
The post I Was Too Kind Describing Schools as Institutionalised Childcare. The Reality is Even Worse appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Straw shortage impacts on environment. Peat permitted as animal bedding due to ‘exceptional circumstances’

category national | environment | press release author Thursday September 27, 2018 21:43author by foie - Friends of Irish Environment Report this post to the editors

Press Release - Friends of the Irish Environment -26th Sep 2018

Peat permitted as animal bedding due to ‘exceptional circumstances. Ban on use on organic farms also lifted

The Department of Agriculture has responded to objections about Teagasc’s recommended use of peat for animal bedding by stating that the authorisation has only been made in the ‘exceptional circumstances of the current fodder and bedding shortage’.

riends of the Irish Environment [FIE] had written to the Minister objecting to a recent Teagasc Factsheet entitled ‘Alternatives to straw bedding’ which recommended peat as an alternative to straw for animal bedding. The environmental charity’s submission provided evidence that Bord na Mona and independent operators are aggressively marketing peat for animal bedding this autumn.

‘It is not Teagasc policy to recommend peat as a long term option for bedding, rather as a temporary and very limited alternative this year,’ the Minister’s office informed FIE. ‘The Teagasc Factsheet of 18 July 2019 (Alternatives to straw bedding), which referred to the use of peat for bedding will be updated to reflect this position.’

The Department has also informed FIE that organic farmers, who are normally prohibited from using peat as animal bedding, can also use peat for bedding ‘on a temporary basis for the period of the winter housing 2018/2019’.

While ‘both the Department and Teagasc recognise that peatlands actively sequester carbon from the atmosphere and have high biodiversity value’, the Department told FIE that ‘the provision of adequate bedding for livestock is essential to ensure animal health and welfare’.

The peat is being extracted without planning permission or EPA licensing, according to FIE. The High Court this year confirmed a 2013 An Bord Pleanala ruling that these industrial operations required planning permission, but the 2013 stay on the ruling permitting continued operations without authorisation remains in place until the legal appeals process is concluded.
FIE, who have been monitoring extraction sites on the raised bogs of County Westmeath, found that the practices being used by private companies have seen whole fields ‘literally gouged out, down to the minerals below, making future regeneration almost impossible.

Ironically,’ Director Tony Lowes said, ‘this new market arises from extreme weather events due to global warming which will only be increased by the use of peat for animal bedding. The problem is not too little fodder or bedding, but too many animals.’

A video including drone footage of the operations released on FIE's facebook page two weeks ago has had 18,000 visits and 6,000 views.

Contact: Tony Lowes 353 (0)27 74771 / 353 (0)87 2176316
Daithí Ó hÉalaithe (Irish language) +353 (0)87 6178852

EDITORS NOTES
URLs for video
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheIrishEnvironment/
https://youtu.be/sUX6d90Y2ag

Letter from Minister
https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/images/peat/peat_min...8.pdf

Letter to the Minister
http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/images/pdf/Minister_b...8.pdf

Tackling Peat Extraction [FIE Review]
http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/images/peat/2016_biod...d.pdf

Related Link: https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/press-releases/17560-peat-permitted-as-animal-bedding-due-to-exceptional-circumstances
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy