Pierre Boscou, director at the European Commission’s agriculture directorate (DG Agri), outlined the need for European agriculture to meet climate change obligations. But he said the Commission did not recommend “achieving this by simply scaling down the level of production”. This would only lead to “carbon leakage” – the displacement of farming to less carbon-efficient regions, he warned.

Instead, he said the future CAP would focus on improving livestock health, feeding and genetics as well as soil and land use, with each country responsible for delivering this progress.

“Our objective is to deliver carbon neutrality that doesn’t compromise sustainable food production,” said Bill Callanan, chief inspector at the Department of Agriculture. He said this would mean focusing on three areas:

  • Efficiency, to reduce the amount of carbon per unit of food produced.
  • Sequestration, to remove greenhouse gas from the atmosphere through changes in farming practices such as increased forestry plantings. Teagasc director Gerry Boyle said this area had the highest potential for agriculture to tackle climate change.
  • Energy, to involve farmers in the production of renewables.
  • The FoodWise 2025 strategy to grow the agri-food industry “cannot be unbridled expansion in livestock numbers or fertiliser spreading without giving thought to how we will contribute to reducing emission,” Callanan said. “We cannot have an increase without reducing our carbon footprint.”

    We have some of the best agri-environmental schemes anywhere in the EU

    As Callanan outlined existing schemes to steer farmers in this direction, Alex Copeland of the nature conservation organisation BirdWatch said that “we have some of the best agri-environmental schemes anywhere in the EU”. However, from a biodiversity perspective, he added that they should be more up to date with scientific knowledge on endangered species and habitats, and better integrated into the national agri-food policy.

    Teagasc’s Boyle took up the biodiversity argument, saying that livestock was essential to maintaining the landscape, especially in uplands areas. Reducing suckler cow numbers to manage greenhouse gas emissions would threaten this role and “economic sustainability would be an issue,” he said.

    Practical solutions

    Some of the practical solutions offered during the session were:

  • Generalise milk recording – there is a 15kgMS difference between cows using it and others – Callanan.
  • Reduce calving intervals – “We have too many suckler cows calving at 28 to 30 months” – Callanan.
  • Slaughter animals at a younger age to reduce their carbon footprint – Boyle.
  • Switch from CAN to urea for significant emission reductions – Boyle.
  • Spread more slurry with trailing shoes, also to reduce emissions – Boyle.
  • Reduce food waste through means including redistribution of surplus or use as by-product – Aoibheann O’Brien, chief executive of Food Cloud.
  • Encourage forestry in a way that is not seen as a failure by farmers. This could include all farmers identifying a small area for tree planting on their farm – MInister of State Andrew Doyle, Boyle.
  • Laura Burke, director general of the Environmental Protection Agency, warned that not one solution would fit every place in Ireland. Minister Doyle agreed and said that a great part of the environmental efficiency drive would depend on our ability to establish a “total land use policy” tailoring farming or other activities to the particular conditions on every piece of land.

    The Irish Farmers Journal is streamling the Food Wise 2025 conference live. Watch the afternoon session live here from 1.45pm.

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