Latest news with #AgricultureandClimateChange
Agriland
19 hours ago
- Science
- Agriland
Watch: ‘Farmers want to do the right thing'
The senior principal research officer at Teagasc, Karl Richards has highlighted the steps being taken by Teagasc to encourage farmers to put 'the latest technology' on their farms. Richards was a panelist at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Agriculture and Climate Change conference yesterday (June 5). Karl Richards, Teagasc He told Agriland that some farmers are 'early adopters' who want to have the latest technology on their farm. Richards said: 'It's a bit slower in the general population of farmers. Farmers are saying what's in it for me? What are the benefits? 'There is a lot of inertia in the system but by and large, farmers want to do the right thing. They want to be as green and sustainable as they can.' 'I think more work is needed from a knowledge transfer perspective, and having the right policies and regulations in place and having the right incentives across the food industry, to encourage and pay farmers to adopt some of these things,' Richards added. Teagasc Richards explained that Teagasc established a climate action strategy in 2022. He said that since then, 25 new scientists have been appointed, by Teagasc, to work on climate and biodiversity research. Richards explained: 'The studies we found around nitrogen fertiliser, we can significantly reduce emissions by reducing the amount of fertiliser that we use. 'We do that by improving soil fertility, by applying lime, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur. We do it by incorporating clover, by using low emission spreading, and using different organic services to reduce amount of nitrogen we need to grow grass.' 'The other side is about changing the formulation of the fertiliser we apply. Protected urea is research that we led a number of years ago with colleagues with in Northern Ireland, that shows we can reduce emissions from fertiliser by changing from one bag, to protected urea, we can reduce emissions by over 70%. 'New research is highlighting, if we include another inhibiter with that, we can reduce the emissions by nearly 90%,' Richards added. According to Richards, Teagasc is researching the breeding of 'low emitting animals', He believes that it can use certain additives in feeds to reduce methane emissions. Richards said: 'At the moment we're trying to tailor that for our grazing situation, which is a bit more difficult. 'We're also looking at the effects of different pasture qualities, different herbage types, there's a number of things happening.' 'Finally, on the manure side, we have developed some additives along with GlasPort Bio in Galway, which significantly reduces methane emissions from stored manure, which is an important source greenhouse gas as well,' he added.
Agriland
5 days ago
- Politics
- Agriland
Watch: ‘It's in Europe's interest to move off fossil fuels'
The Climate Change Advisory Council's chairperson, Marie Donnelly has said that Europe should 'move off fossil fuels' to address issues with climate change. Donnelly was a panelist at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's (DAFM) Agriculture and Climate Change conference in Dublin Castle today (June 5). Climate Change Advisory Council's chairperson, Marie Donnelly She told Agriland that Ireland's climate legislation is in place, but that it is 'not fast enough, and not deep enough'. Donnelly said: 'At a European level, one of the political questions that's center stage right now is whether the commission will endorse the recommendations of the European Scientific Body for the 2040 Carbon Budget, which is a 90% reduction in emissions. 'It's quite a political discussion, members of the EU Parliament are discussing it. The commission is debating it, and we expect something in September.' The Climate Change Advisory chair believes that there is a 'greater awareness' for farming as an industry, and as a way of life, and outlined the role that the EU will play in counteracting climate change. 'It's very important that Europe, as part of it's general approach, thinks about Europe itself, it's own self sufficiency, and it's own efficiency,' Donnelly said. 'When we look at climate change in Europe, it's very pertinent. Europe is the fast warming continent in the world.' 'What is causing global warming faster than anything else? Fossil fuels. Europe has no fossil fuels. We import all of our fossil fuels. Strategically, from a competitiveness point of view, and a security point of view, it's in Europe's interest to move off fossil fuels, as it happens it works for the climate,' Donnelly added. Marie Donnelly Donnelly believes that change is necessary throughout society in order to combat climate change, and that farmers will be impacted. She said: 'To understand what change we need to make, and to support people in making that change, that includes farmers. It might be financial support, new research, new ways of doing things that allow farmers to be efficient and climate active at the same time. 'We have to think of ways to get information out to farmers. Yes it might be financial, but it's more than that, communication, education, dialogue, mutual support, farm leaders, to get message out to adopt new mechanism. 'Farmers have been adopting new methods always. This is not new for farming. If you look at farming 20 years ago, it's not the same as today. It's the nature of farming to modernise as it goes forward,' Donnelly added.
Agriland
5 days ago
- Business
- Agriland
ICMSA: Farmers ‘on board' with climate change plans
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) president, Denis Drennan has said that despite massive challenges, Irish farmers are engaged in the effort to address climate change. Speaking at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Agriculture and Climate Change conference, Drennan said that the results and data were now 'showing the fruits' of farmers' efforts. Drennan believes that farmers are committed and 'on board' with plans to mitigate climate change. However, he stressed that farmers needed reassurance that those plans still rested on 'the three pillars of sustainability', including economic, environmental, and social. The ICMSA president said: 'There are challenges ahead that will have to be faced, and even leaving aside the very significant and unfair anomalies in the accountancy framework used for measuring emissions, the most obvious challenge is the ongoing failure of government to step up and support farmers. 'It's this failure of the government to support its own policies and recommendations that is hampering even more encouraging results and data. 'Irish agriculture is leading the way globally in meeting the climate challenge and the ICMSA believes that farmers can, and will, do more if properly supported,' Drennan added. Climate change According to the ICMSA president, the government has to stop 'coming up with reasons for not taking action' on climate change. Drennan believes that Budget 2026 should be used to signal a 'more proactive approach'. He also called on the government to 'work with farmers to make progress' on Ireland's emission targets. Drennan said: 'Work with farmers to make more progress ,or ultimately pay the fines that will be levied, because Ireland falls short on the emissions targets that could have been hit if we'd had the support. 'Budget 2026 is where we'll see if the government understands that choice and has made a decision that is logical on both the environmental and financial fronts,' he added.
