When you think about sustainability, most people immediately jump to issues around the environment, but the two other core areas of sustainability on farms are both economic and social.

It’s expected that economic sustainability will improve on most farms in 2025, but whether that’s enough to reverse the decline of young people that are entering the sector has yet to be seen.

Fewer than 6% of Irish farmers are under 35, which isn’t a very sustainable succession story. The youth is the future of any organisation and agriculture is no different – without youth is there a future? Have we lost a generation through dithering around the edges in terms of policy, and not supporting productive farmers?

Sustainable farming is defined as farming that can be carried into the future. Teagasc defines sustainable farming as “even more efficient and productive in 10 or 20 years than it is today, and will maintain and shape our countryside as a good place in which to work and live”.

Agriculture has a mammoth task on its hands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030, relative to 2018 emissions. The current trajectory is on track to miss that target by a sizeable amount.

Farmers are changing the way they farm, but large wheels turn in slow circles. In many cases, measures to improve sustainability also improve profitability on farms, so most farmers are positive to making the changes and tweaking their system to improve the sustainability of their farm.

The Teagasc Signpost programme is Ireland’s national initiative to lead climate action within agriculture, by promoting practical steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms.

Siobhan Kavanagh from the Signpost programme in Teagasc outlines how farmers have improved soil fertility, increased the usage of protected urea and reduced reliance on chemical N fertiliser. Lime application has also been critical in improving nutrient efficiency.