If progress on targets set out in Ag Climatise is not seen in one to two years, then regulations will be implemented to help to meet those targets.

Speaking at a Teagasc Signpost Series webinar, Dale Crammond of the Department of Agriculture said that he wants to see farmers reducing fertiliser rates this spring, and taking action immediately to spread the burden of meeting these targets over the decade.

By 2030, nitrogen fertiliser use is to reduce to 325,000t per annum, down from a peak of over 400,000t.

Collaborative approach

Crammond noted that there is no doubt that this regulation will become part of meeting the ambitious targets set out in the document, which aims to make Irish agriculture climate neutral by 2050.

However, he commented that “at the outset, we very much want to approach this from a collaborative point of view.”

“If the trends continue to go in the wrong direction over the next year or two years, the Department will have to look at other options in terms of legislating.”

Methane emissions

When asked on the different metrics used to measure methane emissions (the GWP and the GWP*), Crammond commented that no matter what metric is used, methane emissions still need to be reduced.

He added that the Department is engaging in a serious way internationally on the new metrics coming on stream for methane, but that “nothing can happen between now and 2030 because the systems are locked in until that point.”

The GWP* accounts for the current year’s methane emissions and the trend for the most recent 20-year period, and according to Prof Ray Bates, using the GWP* metrics, Ireland’s methane emissions had a much smaller global warming impact than GWP metrics suggest.