Farmers and co-ops fully committed to improving water quality – ICOS

Farmers and their co-ops are fully committed to improving water quality and supporting environmental best practice on all farms, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) has said.

This comes following the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) publication of its water quality in Ireland report for 2019 to 2024 on Tuesday 14 October, which shows water quality in Ireland is not as good as it should be and is continuing to decline overall.

Speaking on the report, ICOS said it’s important to highlight the green-shoots shown in the EPA water quality report that need to be better understood by all and built upon; the notable improvement in water quality in the priority areas of concern and the overall reduction in nutrient concentrations.

President of ICOS, Edward Carr, said the co-op representative body recognises the urgent need to improve trends in water quality.

“Today’s report by the EPA highlights the extent of the challenge, but also points to strong evidence to show that targeted and coordinated measures spearheaded by the farming sector and government agencies, including Teagasc and LAWPRO, are beginning to show progress is being made.

“This is important to point out as farmers and their co-ops are fully committed to improving water quality and doing the right thing for the environment,” he said.

Carr added that he “firmly” believes the engagement and work being done by farmers and their co-ops on water quality “will deliver the improvement we all want to see”.

“As a sector, we have supported the extension of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) to over 50 water quality specialists working on a day-to-day basis with farmers, of which 30 are directly employed by co-ops. This has resulted in over 3,000 water quality visits by Co-op ASSAP teams in 2024.

“The issue of water quality is front and centre for the farming sector, with the co-ops actively raising awareness of water quality issues through multiple farmer events, targeted support through co-op sustainability programmes, the Farming for Water EIP and the development of co-ordinated catchment level approaches such as the Blackwater and Slaney catchment programmes,” he stated.

IFA

Meanwhile, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Francie Gorman said the report shows that all stakeholders have a job of work to do to improve water quality.

“Today’s report shows that about half of our water bodies are good or high status, similar to the last comparable report completed in 2022.

“While the report as a whole points to a stable or slight decline in water quality, there are also clear signs that the work undertaken by farmers, particularly on nitrates, is starting to take effect.”

The report shows that total nitrogen levels have reduced significantly over the 2019-2024 period, with the final year of the analysis, 2024 – 25% lower than 2019.

The report also outlined that, over the six-year period, 39% of rivers showed reducing nitrate concentrations, compared with 6% of rivers showing an increase.

“Nitrate levels in our rivers overall are trending in the right direction which is testament to the level of work and effort that farmers have put in on this, particularly in the last two to three years,” Gorman said.

The IFA president gave the example of Cork where approximately 40% of the agricultural land is farmed under a nitrates derogation, and 67% of rivers are of good or high ecological status, far higher than the national average.

“It is clear that all stakeholders including farmers need to redouble their efforts to protect water quality.

“It is also absolutely imperative that issues relating to urban waste water are also dealt with as quickly as possible to make sure we really move the dial positively on water quality,” he stated.