One of the biggest learnings from the first two years of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) is that one size does not fit all when it comes to water quality, according to Teagasc adviser Noel Meehan.
“We’re moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to water quality and agriculture. Instead, it's about putting the correct measure in the correct place on the farm,” said Meehan, who was speaking on Friday morning as part of the latest "Signpost Series" of online webinars on sustainable agriculture hosted by Teagasc.
Teagasc adviser and ASSAP programme manager Noel Meehan (centre).
Meehan, who serves as manager of the ASSAP programme for Teagasc, said three-quarters of all water quality issues caused by agriculture in Ireland relate to diffuse loss of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment into water bodies.
Most losses of phosphorus and sediment into water bodies come from soils with low permeability (heavy soils), while the majority of diffuse nitrogen losses comes from free draining soils as nitrogen does not bind tightly to soil making it very mobile.
“A lot of Irish farmers don’t see themselves are being necessarily intensive in how they farm. But by working with them we’re able to show them how their farm can still have an impact on water quality,” said Meehan.
“The ASSAP programme is a voluntary, non-regulatory programme but we have 96% engagement with the farmers we’ve reached out to across all the different water catchments up and down the country,” he added.
Essential
Meehan said collaboration with farmers was absolutely essential to improve water quality and the ASSAP interim report published this summer was already showing significant improvements in water quality over the last two years.
“Collaborating and working with the farmer is key. There’s no point asking the farmer to do something they don’t understand or don’t agree with and have no intention of doing. We’ve learned to work hand in hand with farmers,” said Meehan.
“We keep it very, very simple and narrow it down to the three or four issues on the farm that we know are definitely impacting water quality in the catchment.
This riparian strip and grass buffer zone is helping to prevent nutrient losses into the nearby river, while also improving biodiversity on the farm.
"We’re then able to work with the farmer to implement targeted measures like sediment traps, riparian strips, grass buffer zones in the winter and planting new hedgerows that we know will make a big difference in protecting water bodies,” he added.
After the initial interventions are made, Meehan said it is then crucial to continue to work with farmers to ensure those measures are maintained and water bodies can continue to be protected.
Interconnected
Also speaking during the live webinar was Joe Crockett of Dairy Sustainability Ireland.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that improving one area of sustainability such as water quality is also delivering benefits for other pillars such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. The sustainability pillars are interconnected so improving one has benefits for others,” said Crockett.
For example, one of the main ways farmers can reduce nutrient losses from their land is by using new technologies like low-emissions slurry spreading (LESS) and protected urea. However, both of these technologies are also delivering wins for improving air quality and reducing ammonia emissions from agriculture.
Crockett said one of the key requirements for Irish agriculture over the coming decade will be to mainstream sustainability on farms so that it is no longer an optional add-on. He said recently introduced bonus payments from Dairygold and Glanbia linked to sustainability and biodiversity would drive this change.
Collaboration
Crockett also said one of the biggest learnings from the ASSAP programme had been the need for collaboration between farmers, industry, government agencies and environmental groups to achieve meaningful sustainability goals.
“Collaboration is not an easy way to do business but it is paying off. There’s a need for more coalition building when it comes to sustainability. We can’t have individual groups going off and doing a solo run when it comes to sustainability,” he said.
Crockett argued that there needed to be a whole of government/whole of sector approach to improving the sustainability of Irish agriculture for the sake of the rural economy.
“Irish co-ops paid out €2.6bn in milk cheques to farmers last year. That’s just a mind-blowing figure. In Cork alone, €500m was issued in milk cheques last year, which highlights how important agriculture is to our rural economy. There’s no FDI company paying out €500m like that every year,” said Crockett.
One of the biggest learnings from the first two years of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) is that one size does not fit all when it comes to water quality, according to Teagasc adviser Noel Meehan.
“We’re moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to water quality and agriculture. Instead, it's about putting the correct measure in the correct place on the farm,” said Meehan, who was speaking on Friday morning as part of the latest "Signpost Series" of online webinars on sustainable agriculture hosted by Teagasc.
Teagasc adviser and ASSAP programme manager Noel Meehan (centre).
Meehan, who serves as manager of the ASSAP programme for Teagasc, said three-quarters of all water quality issues caused by agriculture in Ireland relate to diffuse loss of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment into water bodies.
Most losses of phosphorus and sediment into water bodies come from soils with low permeability (heavy soils), while the majority of diffuse nitrogen losses comes from free draining soils as nitrogen does not bind tightly to soil making it very mobile.
“A lot of Irish farmers don’t see themselves are being necessarily intensive in how they farm. But by working with them we’re able to show them how their farm can still have an impact on water quality,” said Meehan.
“The ASSAP programme is a voluntary, non-regulatory programme but we have 96% engagement with the farmers we’ve reached out to across all the different water catchments up and down the country,” he added.
Essential
Meehan said collaboration with farmers was absolutely essential to improve water quality and the ASSAP interim report published this summer was already showing significant improvements in water quality over the last two years.
“Collaborating and working with the farmer is key. There’s no point asking the farmer to do something they don’t understand or don’t agree with and have no intention of doing. We’ve learned to work hand in hand with farmers,” said Meehan.
“We keep it very, very simple and narrow it down to the three or four issues on the farm that we know are definitely impacting water quality in the catchment.
This riparian strip and grass buffer zone is helping to prevent nutrient losses into the nearby river, while also improving biodiversity on the farm.
"We’re then able to work with the farmer to implement targeted measures like sediment traps, riparian strips, grass buffer zones in the winter and planting new hedgerows that we know will make a big difference in protecting water bodies,” he added.
After the initial interventions are made, Meehan said it is then crucial to continue to work with farmers to ensure those measures are maintained and water bodies can continue to be protected.
Interconnected
Also speaking during the live webinar was Joe Crockett of Dairy Sustainability Ireland.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that improving one area of sustainability such as water quality is also delivering benefits for other pillars such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. The sustainability pillars are interconnected so improving one has benefits for others,” said Crockett.
For example, one of the main ways farmers can reduce nutrient losses from their land is by using new technologies like low-emissions slurry spreading (LESS) and protected urea. However, both of these technologies are also delivering wins for improving air quality and reducing ammonia emissions from agriculture.
Crockett said one of the key requirements for Irish agriculture over the coming decade will be to mainstream sustainability on farms so that it is no longer an optional add-on. He said recently introduced bonus payments from Dairygold and Glanbia linked to sustainability and biodiversity would drive this change.
Collaboration
Crockett also said one of the biggest learnings from the ASSAP programme had been the need for collaboration between farmers, industry, government agencies and environmental groups to achieve meaningful sustainability goals.
“Collaboration is not an easy way to do business but it is paying off. There’s a need for more coalition building when it comes to sustainability. We can’t have individual groups going off and doing a solo run when it comes to sustainability,” he said.
Crockett argued that there needed to be a whole of government/whole of sector approach to improving the sustainability of Irish agriculture for the sake of the rural economy.
“Irish co-ops paid out €2.6bn in milk cheques to farmers last year. That’s just a mind-blowing figure. In Cork alone, €500m was issued in milk cheques last year, which highlights how important agriculture is to our rural economy. There’s no FDI company paying out €500m like that every year,” said Crockett.
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