While accepting farmers and the agri sector had a part to play in addressing climate change, many farmers at the Arrabawn dairy conference questioned the fairness and metrics used in Ireland.
Department speaker Jack Nolan and Teagasc researcher Trevor Donnellan poured cold water on much of the frustration, suggesting other sectors are also under pressure and the farming sector shouldn’t feel marginalised.
One farmer asked: “Are our trees, grassland and hedges counted for carbon sequestration at the moment?”
Another posed the question: “Are other countries taking the environment as serious as we are in Ireland?”
Another said: “What’s annoying a lot of farmers here in this room is that there are 2,500 airplane flights using 63,000 litres of fuel passing over our heads every day and there isn’t one cook about it, but the farmers seem to be getting it in the neck all the time.”
I don’t believe they are the get out of jail card or the magic bullet, but we do need to back up the science and farmers do need to get the credit for the hedges, trees and grasslands
Answering the question on what’s included on sequestration, Donnellan said: “Grasslands are not included, our hedgerows are not included, because we have no science and no methodology on including them. Any measurement we do is verified by other countries and if we are found to have cooked the books it will be found out.
Trevor Donnellan, Teagasc, Athenry.
“However, I don’t believe they are the get out of jail card or the magic bullet, but we do need to back up the science and farmers do need to get the credit for the hedges, trees and grasslands. We also need to be clear on our national plan for forestry and the reasons we would plant more trees.”
Forestry
When another farmer pushed the top table on why we can’t get the science right, Jack Nolan from the Department said: “Look, 1ha of Sitka Spruce will sequester the equivalent of three cows, and we have about 400,000 additional cows. On average 600ha of hedgerows are removed each year and our gains in EBI (breeding) just about balance that out. If we lose the nitrate derogation it will be because of water pollution from agriculture. Be clear that farmers need to adopt new methods of spreading slurry, be clever on lowering protein content in feed and use artificial nitrogen smarter.”
More than 400 farmers gathered in Nenagh for the conference. Speakers included Conor Mulvihill, director at Dairy Industry Ireland affilaited to IBEC; economist Trevor Donnellan from Teagasc; Jack Nolan of the Department of Agriculture; and Pat Wall from University College Dublin.
Read more
Watch: Prof Frank Mitloehner’s presentation on methane and carbon sequestration
Watch: exclusive interview with Frank Mitloehner, the greenhouse gas guru
While accepting farmers and the agri sector had a part to play in addressing climate change, many farmers at the Arrabawn dairy conference questioned the fairness and metrics used in Ireland.
Department speaker Jack Nolan and Teagasc researcher Trevor Donnellan poured cold water on much of the frustration, suggesting other sectors are also under pressure and the farming sector shouldn’t feel marginalised.
One farmer asked: “Are our trees, grassland and hedges counted for carbon sequestration at the moment?”
Another posed the question: “Are other countries taking the environment as serious as we are in Ireland?”
Another said: “What’s annoying a lot of farmers here in this room is that there are 2,500 airplane flights using 63,000 litres of fuel passing over our heads every day and there isn’t one cook about it, but the farmers seem to be getting it in the neck all the time.”
I don’t believe they are the get out of jail card or the magic bullet, but we do need to back up the science and farmers do need to get the credit for the hedges, trees and grasslands
Answering the question on what’s included on sequestration, Donnellan said: “Grasslands are not included, our hedgerows are not included, because we have no science and no methodology on including them. Any measurement we do is verified by other countries and if we are found to have cooked the books it will be found out.
Trevor Donnellan, Teagasc, Athenry.
“However, I don’t believe they are the get out of jail card or the magic bullet, but we do need to back up the science and farmers do need to get the credit for the hedges, trees and grasslands. We also need to be clear on our national plan for forestry and the reasons we would plant more trees.”
Forestry
When another farmer pushed the top table on why we can’t get the science right, Jack Nolan from the Department said: “Look, 1ha of Sitka Spruce will sequester the equivalent of three cows, and we have about 400,000 additional cows. On average 600ha of hedgerows are removed each year and our gains in EBI (breeding) just about balance that out. If we lose the nitrate derogation it will be because of water pollution from agriculture. Be clear that farmers need to adopt new methods of spreading slurry, be clever on lowering protein content in feed and use artificial nitrogen smarter.”
More than 400 farmers gathered in Nenagh for the conference. Speakers included Conor Mulvihill, director at Dairy Industry Ireland affilaited to IBEC; economist Trevor Donnellan from Teagasc; Jack Nolan of the Department of Agriculture; and Pat Wall from University College Dublin.
Read more
Watch: Prof Frank Mitloehner’s presentation on methane and carbon sequestration
Watch: exclusive interview with Frank Mitloehner, the greenhouse gas guru
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