The announcement of a US-EU pledge to reduce global emissions by 30% by 2030 and Ireland’s commitment to sign up gained widespread media attention this week.

With almost 100% of Ireland’s total methane emissions coming from agriculture, the announcement was seized upon by those championing a reduction in Ireland’s livestock numbers.

But as Prof Gerry Boyle reports, the global pledge is focused on methane emissions from landfills along with oil, gas and coal-mining.

In signing up to the pledge, the Taoiseach was careful to make this distinction, emphasising that he was signing up to a global commitment and this could not be interpreted as applying to Ireland. However, the message was either lost in translation or conveniently ignored.

None of the global measures put forward to reduce methane in the ruminant livestock sector involve a policy-generated reduction in animal numbers. In most cases, the global measures identified are aligned to those within the Teagasc MACC.

A combination of these measures has been shown to deliver a 10% reduction in biogenic methane in Ireland by 2030, as highlighted in both AgClimatise and Vision2030.

This week's cartoon

\ Jim Cogan

Tillage: reduce fertiliser rates in response to cost

Rising fertiliser prices are a huge threat to crop margins for the coming season and beyond. Many growers could see this substantial cost increase threefold for this coming season.

In this week's edition, Andy Doyle estimates the fertiliser cost increase for winter wheat and spring barley based on the fertilisation rates set out in Teagasc’s Crop Costs and Returns.

For winter wheat, the total fertiliser cost (N, P & K) would increase from €345/ha in 2021 to €837/ha for 2022, while spring barley would increase from €262/ha to €683/ha. Further increases are also likely for chemical inputs and fuel-related activities.

These costs are highly negative to margins, even at current price levels, for 2022 crops. That level of spend will not produce a positive return on investment.

As outlined by Andy Doyle and by Philip O’Connor here, these costs should force a reassessment of usage levels to target optimum rather than maximum yield.

Grain prices would have to rise much higher for this additional expenditure to make economic sense. Both suggest than an area of leguminous crop, like beans, will help decrease overall fertiliser requirement, while spring oilseed rape offers a high margin potential due to its high price.

New series: Footprint Farmers

Earlier this year, the Irish Farmers Journal brought a new group together – the Footprint Farmers.

The group is featured in this week's edition and aims to showcase the good work being done on farms while working to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability parameters on beef, dairy, sheep and tillage farms.

We will follow these farmers on their journey to improving their businesses and gather information on carbon emissions and storage.