EPA report – welcome news for farmers

There was a general welcome for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) report last month, confirming a national reduction in emissions of 6.8 per cent, a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq.) year on year. The different economic sectoral performances were listed, with agriculture-related emissions reducing by 4.6 per cent (or 1Mt CO2 eq.) in 2023. The primary driver of this reduction was a substantial fall in nitrogen fertiliser use, allied to a decrease in liming, probably due to unfavourable weather and ground conditions. Commenting on the emission reduction figures, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said he was positive that Irish agriculture is on the right path, especially following on from reductions in 2022. He highlighted the importance of continuing the current trajectory, with the ultimate aim of achieving a 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for agriculture by 2030. 

Novel innovations

The widespread adoption of novel technological innovations is considered to be central in achieving the emissions reductions, with genotyping of three-quarters of a million calves already achieved, ongoing renewable-energy production and use on farms, and further reductions in fertiliser and pesticide use, as well as soil-health improvements, all listed as important developments to build on existing emissions reductions.
The Green Party’s Pippa Hackett, Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), added that the Organic Farming Scheme, the Protein Aid Scheme, and the multi-species sward and red clover silage measures have all contributed to delivering emissions reductions and should be expanded and promoted in the coming years. The area of land farmed organically has trebled to 225,500ha (5 per cent of land area) in three years. If that expansion continues, Irish agriculture would hit the 10 per cent target set for the sector by 2030.
This year has seen the completion of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, supplying the scientific infrastructure to measure GHG fluxes from soils under agricultural management. Irish work in this regard is at the forefront of EU carbon sequestration research. In another reference to technological innovation aiding emissions-reduction strategies, Minister of State at the DAFM, Martin Heydon pointed to the provision of increased funding to accelerate the development of AgNav, a digital platform created collaboratively between Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Association (ICBF) and Bord Bia. AgNav provides a whole farm sustainability assessment and includes a decision-support function that allows science-led plans to be made for individual farms to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration.

There’s more…

Ongoing refinements of the GHG inventory have already led to adjustments in relation to the emissions levels achieved from reducing live-weight finishing targets and improved average daily weight gain in cattle. The revised approach also better tracks the changes in slaughter age in recent years.
Another encouraging sign that further emissions reductions, especially in methane production from cattle, are achievable comes from research supported by the DAFM on feed additives such as 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP). These are now close to roll out onto Irish farms. This product has received European Food Safety Authority approval and has been trialled on 18 Teagasc Signpost farms involving housed livestock. Results show up to a 30 per cent reduction in methane in these scenarios. Further research is ongoing to adapt the technology for use in the rumen of grazing animals.
Meanwhile, this year significant recalculations were undertaken by the EPA based on new country-specific research that enabled the refinement of estimations on emissions for the agriculture sector and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector.
This adjustment shows that emissions calculations for agriculture and LULUCF are continually being revised and refined as new country-specific research becomes available. Commenting on this, Minister McConalogue highlighted the importance of these developments and said the research calculations of emissions and removals must continue at pace and that farmers must be credited for the carbon they are storing in their forests, hedges, grasslands and crops.