This Sunday will see farmers and farm families march on Dublin led by the IFA. It comes after IFA led a number of marches in regional towns last month to highlight what it says were Government policies that will decimate Ireland's largest indigenous sector.

There is no doubt but the sector is facing significant changes over the coming years as climate targets take centre stage in determining Government and EU policies. And farmers are critical to such changes. As we've said here previously farmers hold the key to the country's future environmental challenges and solutions.

Farmer protests in the capital are nothing new – with the history books detailing those who marched in 1966 for farmers rights, while more recent times has seen hundreds of farmers clog the city centre's streets with their tractors. 

The protest is to highlight that farmers are tired of being unfairly attacked in the climate debate and that through their Climate and CAP policies, this Government is trying to shut down productive farming in Ireland.

However, farmers this weekend need to come to Dublin with a plan. Shouting 'down with this sort of thing' is not enough from the sector nor is handing  out free breakfasts to the public.

Despite this there is plenty farmers are entitled to feel angry about and the outcome of the COP26 talks in Scotland will have done little to improve their mood or make them fell like ‘we are all in it together’.

But, it was evident at Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue’s mart tour in recent weeks that not all farmers are on the same page when it comes to climate action and are certainly not on the same page as the Government. That leaves the question what are farmers willing to do in this area?

And while the IFA is saying Government needs to sit down with elected farmer leaders to agree a plan to ensure economic and social sustainability, as well as environmental sustainability, there is an onus too on the farming sector to come up with this plan. What Greenhouse Gas emission reductions do the farm organisations back and how can they be implemented across the sector in a fair and sustainable manner? 

Farmers more than ever need to articulate a plan for their sector before someone else comes up with one and foists it onto them.