A four-year project on regenerative agriculture in Ireland has received €1.45m in funding from the Department of Agriculture.

Base Ireland secured the funding under an open call for European Innovation Partnership (EIP) projects on the theme of environmental sustainability.

Project Baseline aims to promote sustainable farming practices across all farming sectors.

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It will focus on improving soil health and ecosystem function and will also help inform policy on how to meet the objectives of the EU soil strategy 2030.

Speaking from the launch in Athy, Co Kildare, on Friday, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said: “I very much look forward to seeing how the project develops and commend BASE Ireland and their partners on undertaking this important work.

Project lead Rob Coleman said: “I was thrilled when BASE Ireland received European Innovation Programme funding. In BASE alone, we have over 100 farmers practicing regenerative agriculture, many for more than a decade.

"This project gives us the opportunity to understand, through measurement, the impacts of these practices on important outcomes, like soil health, farm biodiversity and, crucially of course, farm finances.”

Benefits

Project manager Dr Pippa Hackett stated: “This project has the potential to create a new baseline for Irish agriculture.

"There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that taking this soil-focused approach delivers benefits, not only for soil and wider environmental health, but also for farm profitability. Project Baseline will put the anecdotal evidence to the test.

"Another innovative element of the project will examine why farmers choose regenerative agriculture and we hope to determine factors key to encouraging others to join the regenerative path.”

The launch was hosted by BASE Ireland member Karl Colton, who said: “Like many of my colleagues, I have been implementing regenerative agriculture principles on my farm for some time.

"By learning from each other, I can see the difference in the health of my soil, my crops and my bottom line. I’m using less fertiliser and pesticides and that must be a good thing for nature.”

Rob Coleman concluded: “We are in the early stages and are conducting several pieces of work to determine the variables we need to examine.

"We are looking forward to working with farmers and researchers over the coming months and years as we delve into the detail, uptake and impact of regenerative agriculture in Ireland.”