Living up to our clean, green food production image

Who’d be a farmer? Not only do they have to contend with wafer thin margins for their produce along with rapidly increasing input costs, but they also have the finger of blame pointed at them when it comes to climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

How did it get to this situation where Ireland’s vaunted clean, green and near-organic food production systems have become a blame figure for the climate action movement? It begins with the quite startling statistic that 37 per cent of Ireland’s GHG emissions come from agriculture. And 60 per cent of those emissions come from cattle.

Those numbers have led to an all too predictable rush to easy solutions. Cull the cattle herd. Only keep enough beef and dairy cattle to meet our own needs on this small island. Sounds simple and reasonably attractive, if you’re not a beef or dairy farmer of course.

But it’s not that straightforward. We exist in a world of complex food supply chains where we export beef and dairy products to regions where they are in short supply while we import vast amounts of foodstuffs which can’t easily be grown in Ireland.

The solution must begin with finding ways to reduce the emissions from current activities. And the agriculture sector is making real progress in that respect.

"We see increased acceptance and willingness from the farming sector to reduce emissions, albeit tangible emission reduction progress to date remains modest," says Russell Smyth, head of KPMG Sustainable Futures. "Current efforts are focused on deploying proven technologies, such as low emission slurry spreading equipment, improved animal genetics and improved soil nutrition, which reduces fertiliser requirements. These, and similar initiatives, have the potential to reduce emissions by around 20 per cent, while remaining cost effective for farmers. Beyond these initial technology options, however, new innovations will be required to negate the need for herd reductions."

Energy usage also comes into the equation, according to Dick Meaney, agri sales manager at Pinergy SolarElectric. “Agriculture is a huge area and there is a lot going on in terms of decarbonisation,” he says. “You might not see the results in terms of carbon reductions straight away, but I am very positive about the work being done.”

Solar power has the potential to both reduce costs for farmers and cut GHG emissions, he points out. “Solar power is generated 365 days a year,” he notes. “Some people say it is not available at night and on darker days. Obviously, there is a lower amount in winter than on longer summer days but it is still there all year round. It can enable farmers to generate their own electricity and save on energy costs. And there is no noise from generation. Wind turbines do a brilliant job but there can be noise issues depending on where they are located. Solar has no moving parts.”

He believes solar has a major role to play in helping farmers deal with rapidly rising energy and farm input costs. “Dairy and poultry farming are energy intensive activities,” he explains. “If you take the example of a dairy farm, it has high energy needs in the mornings and evenings when the cows are milked, and the milk is cooled. You can put solar panels on dairy and milking parlour roofs, they can power the milking machines, chillers and so on. It can also provide the hot water for washing out the equipment and lines because you can divert the electricity to an immersion heater which acts like a battery. In future you will be able to plug in an electric vehicle to charge it from the system.”

The climate impact is significant, to say the least. “Every Kw of energy represents 296g of carbon,” Meaney explains. “A 24kw system will reduce carbon emissions by 132,000 tonnes over a 20-year period. If you multiply that out over the potential number of farmers who could invest in the technology and then add the co-ops, feed compounders and other agriculture related industries, you can see what it could do over a number of years.”

There are other innovations coming down the tracks to help the sector reduce its emissions. For example, Glasport Bio, this year’s winner of the sustainability category in The Irish Times Innovation Awards has developed a feed additive which can significantly reduce the amount of methane emitted by cattle.

Methane is 30 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas and that’s what makes agriculture such a significant emissions source. The Glasport Bio innovation targets bugs known as methanogens in the cow’s rumen and prevents them from producing methane.

Meanwhile, a Teagasc research project has shown that applying the correct amount of phosphorous per hectare per year can reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by 42 per cent. Approximately 30-35 per cent of agricultural emissions are a result of nitrogen fertilisers applied to the soil. The N2O released from the soil is 295 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. A small amount of it does a lot of damage and it lasts in the atmosphere for centuries. That 42 per cent suddenly sounds like a very big number indeed.