Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on dairy, cattle, sheep and tillage farms fell last year, according to Teagasc.

Publishing its latest sustainability report for Irish agriculture, Teagasc researchers found that when measured on a whole farm or per-hectare basis, on average, GHG emissions fell on these farms compared to 2021.

Artificial nitrogen

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The chief driver behind the fall in GHG emissions was reduced artificial nitrogen use on farms, although it noted that the move to lower GHG-emitting fertilisers such as protected urea remains low.

Ammonia emissions increased, due to increased use of straight urea fertiliser on dairy farms.

The Teagasc report also highlights the continued adoption of on-farm actions to cut emissions, with 34% and 75% of slurry on cattle and dairy farms respectively spread using Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment.

The economic context

On farm incomes, lead author of the report, Dr Cathal Buckley, Teagasc Rural Economy and Development programme said: “Dairying continues to exhibit a strong economic performance relative to other farm systems. We continue to see an increase in dairy output and dairy farm incomes.

“However, expressing farm incomes on a unit of family labour basis, dairy and tillage farms can be considered as relatively comparable in income terms. The results show that both of these farm system types considerably outperform the drystock farm systems in economic terms.”

Trevor Donnellan, head of the agricultural economics and farm surveys department in Teagasc, and co-author of the report said that the improvement in farm incomes during 2022 “makes a larger share of farms sustainable in an economic context”.

Teagasc director, Professor Frank O’Mara, said the sustainability report demonstrates how progress is already being made, and highlights where further improvements can be achieved.

“Critically the report demonstrates the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability in an economic, environmental and social context,” he said.