After four consecutive years of rising emissions, Ireland’s agricultural sector was able to reduce carbon emissions last year as a result of lower methane emissions and lower emissions related to spreading fertiliser and lime.

According to the EPA, emissions from Irish agriculture for 2019 stood at 21.15m tonnes of C02 equivalent, which was a 4% reduction in emissions compared to last year.

The main drivers of the reduction in agricultural emissions last year were a 10% fall in the use of nitrogen fertiliser, a 25% reduction in the amount of lime applied by farmers and a 3% fall in methane emissions.

While much has been made of the expanding dairy sector in Ireland, the methane figures from the EPA show the overall Irish livestock herd was actually smaller last year due to a reduction in beef cattle numbers.

Irish methane emissions were down 3% last year to 12.2m tonnes of C02 equivalent.

Additionally, there was a 4% drop in emissions related to slurry spreading and manure management to 2.2m tonnes of C02 equivalent. The continued investment in Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment is undoubtedly starting to pay dividends and we can expect to see this figure reduce further in the year ahead.

The dramatic fall in fertiliser and lime usage in 2019 can be attributed to the summer drought in 2018, which resulted in a sharp increase in fertiliser application in the back end of that year.

Encouragingly, emissions of nitrous oxide (N20) – an extremely potent greenhouse gas – fell 6% last year as a result of this drop in fertiliser usage.

It’s also positive to see a 6% drop in carbon emissions being lost from peat soils and bogs to just over 5.7m tonnes of C02 equivalent.

Targets

Irish agriculture still has a lot to do in order for the sector to meet its climate commitments up to 2030 and beyond but the required changes are starting to take place at farm level.

Farmers are investing heavily in expensive technologies like LESS systems, while rising uptake of products like protected urea fertiliser will also result in reduced emissions.

Methane remains the biggest hurdle for the sector to tackle.

However, research into methane inhibiting feed supplements for cattle is ongoing and some of the results to date have been very encouraging showing sharp reductions in methane from cattle.

Methane remains the biggest hurdle for the sector to tackle

With these technology advances, coupled with increased understanding of the need for climate action, farmers will meet their climate commitments in the years ahead.

What’s needed is time and patience for the sector to scale up the rollout of these technologies to all farms across the country.

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Agricultural emissions fall by 4% in 2019