Signpost: Why you must use less bagged nitrogen

Improving soil fertility, using LESS and incorporating clover enables you to cut bagged nitrogen without losing yield. But if, in reality, you don’t cut your bought-in fertiliser, there’s little reduction in greenhouse emissions and no cash divided for you, warns two Teagasc advisors.

In short, if chemical N doesn’t decrease, agriculture won’t get the credit for it in the inventory, and you don’t get the benefit in your pocket, writes Teagsac's Siobhan Kavanagh.

The ‘national inventory’, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), accounts for the total GHG emissions released within the borders of Ireland during any given year.

The EPA reports national GHG emissions for all sectors, one of which is agriculture.