The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement today (Tuesday, July 9) that agricultural emissions dropped by 4.6% last year shows the efforts farmers are making, according to Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman.
“The result for 2023 means our emissions have dropped for three years in succession and is evidence that measures adopted by farmers are having an impact,” he said.
“While progress on our emissions targets is important, we need to achieve this through reducing emissions per unit of output.
“Achieving it by reducing production will have negative economic and social implications. We must get the balance right,” Gorman added.
Details of this greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction can be seen in the graph below:
The most significant driver for the reduction in emissions in 2023 was a decrease in use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser of 18.0%.
Gorman explained: “This is partly due to adopting new technologies such as multi species awards and better use of organic nutrients.
“However, the increased price of fertiliser is also a factor. Less fertiliser will lead to less grass growth.
“In a year when the weather is unfavourable, this will have implications for output and the amount of fodder being saved.”
However, the IFA president said the elements of the reduction which are due to the drop in cattle numbers and less use of fertiliser would have economic and social consequences for the sector.
According to the EPA, livestock numbers decreased in general, non-dairy cattle by 1.1%, sheep by 1.2% and pigs by 4.3%.
Dairy cow numbers increased by 0.6%, however milk output/cow and overall production was reduced. This is the 13th consecutive year of increases in dairy cow numbers, the EPA determined.
Gorman said: “Reducing cattle numbers will have consequences too. Suckler cow numbers are down and milk deliveries will be down this year too. What economic activity will replace this in our rural areas?
“We need to be careful not to pursue emissions reduction as the only measure, with no regard for the economic and social consequences in rural areas.”
In 2024, significant recalculations were undertaken by the EPA based on new country-specific research that enabled the refinement of estimations on emissions for the agriculture sector and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector.
The IFA president continued: “This adjustment shows that emissions calculations for agriculture and LULUCF are continually being revised and refined as new country-specific research becomes available.
“It is vital that the research calculations of emissions and removals continues at pace and that farmers are credited for the carbon they are storing in their forests, hedges, grasslands and crops.”
Agricultural emissions
The EPA determined that agriculture is “the largest contributor to the overall emissions at 37.8% of the total (excluding LULUCF)” GHG emissions in 2023.
In 2023, CO2 emissions contributed 6.6% to the agriculture sector and have decreased by 14.6% since 2022.
In 2023, liming on soils decreased by 26.6%, using one million tonnes of lime, following a 2022 usage of 1.42 million tonnes.
Weather conditions throughout the latter half of 2023 proved difficult for field work and likely contributed to reduced lime application.
However, it should be noted that as a mitigation measure, elevated levels of lime application improve soil fertility, leading to sustained reductions in fertiliser nitrogen usage and a net reduction in GHG emissions.