Whatever the weather
But no matter what the weather brings over the coming decades, it will have a huge influence in farming.
Because nearly everyone is convinced now that extreme weather is due to climate change. In England, Prime Minister Gordon Brown blamed it for the torrential rains. All round the world, in governments and in business, climate change tops the agenda.
Action is demanded, after more than 1,000 died in floods in the past few weeks in China, India and Pakistan, hundreds recently died in heatwaves in Europe, severe floods brought chaos in England, and Buenos Aires in Argentina had its first snowfall in nearly 90 years.
Climate change is here, and strong measures are being taken across the EU to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.
Governments have set limits on how much carbon dioxide 11,500 power plants and energy-intensive factories are allowed to emit per year. These plants account for almost half of the EU’s emissions.
Other measures are, for example, aimed at improving the fuel-efficiency of cars and buildings; increasing the use of renewable energy and geothermal power; raising awareness; and strengthening research and development and the uptake of climate-friendly technologies.
Farmers are at the centre of international plans to minimise the effects of climate change.
At the end of this month, at Bioenergy 2007 in Co Carlow, farmers will hear of opportunities to manage climate change while creating rural employment. According to the organisers, bioenergy has become critical for competitiveness in the agriculture, forest, and energy sectors.
Farmers are encouraged to grow and harvest willow, grain and miscanthus, produce wood pellets, wood chip or fire wood — because they can make money while fighting climate change and reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports. Even farm wastes have potential value as fuels. One of Britain’s largest bus companies is testing sheep’s urine as a raw material for conversion to urea, which can then be used to run their buses.
Bonemeal and tallow from meat processing are emerging as biofuel sources.
However, climate change control isn’t all opportunity for farmers. Scientists at the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan have calculated that producing a kilogram of beef emits as much carbon dioxide as the average European car produces in 250 kilometres, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
The total environmental load of a portion of beef is even heavier, when the impacts of managing farm infrastructure and transporting the meat are included.
Most of the environmental damage is attributed to greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane from the animals’ digestive systems. Their waste, and energy spent in producing and transporting animal feed, add to the environmental burden.
Consumers are bring told that people who do their best for the environment by cycling instead of driving, switching electrical implements off standby, etc, are canceling these good efforts if they eat meat.
Vegetarians are jumping on these findings as proof that not eating meat is one of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. It’s more proof, if any more were needed, that farmers need to worry about the weather, because climate change and how to control it are now major forces, and farmers are involved more than most.
The farming and food industries must be ready to play their part, and must have their research done.
Ireland’s Keenan System and Keenan Manufacturing have shown they are right on the ball, with their new nutrition system which they believe can achieve the equivalent of taking 25% of Ireland’s cars off the road for a year, by helping to reduce methane emissions produced by farmed animals by 20%.
The system won two major awards at the Royal Show, and it has even more potential in Ireland, where agriculture is the second highest contributor to damaging greenhouse gas emissions. Keenans are ready, if the climate change debate turns nasty on farmers, whose ruminant animals worldwide are thought to be responsible for up to 25% of man-made emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
It is estimated that if all the farmers in the EU member states took up the Keenan system, the environmental saving would be the equivalent of taking 20 million cars off the road.
That’s yet another measure of how important the weather is for farmers.
