Farmers to get emissions figure for their farms through new digital tool

"In AgNav, we're generating for each farm a carbon figure, and that's the figure of the total emissions from their farm."

A new sustainability digital platform providing farm-specific emission figures was showcased to thousands of farmers at the Teagasc Moorepark open day this week.

AgNav has been trialled with Teagasc advisors and Signpost demonstration farms, and is being used by the new team of Teagasc Signpost advisors working with farmers to develop action plans to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions.

It has been developed by Teagasc with Bord Bia and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

Dr George Ramsbottom, who is the advisory programme development manager leading the Teagasc Signpost advisory programme, said that from Bord Bia, "we're getting a lot of the physical data on the farm, and from ICBF, we're getting the stock numbers and milk production".

"In AgNav, we're generating for each farm a carbon figure, and that's the figure of the total emissions from their farm," he told the Irish Examiner.

"When you have that figure, you can use it to set a plan in place to reduce your carbon footprint for the years ahead. 

"We have a team of 21 Signpost advisors just recruited and they're starting workshops now to meet farmers, give them a plan, and help them to reduce their carbon emissions."

New process

It is "quite a new process", and initially, AgNav will be available to all Irish beef and dairy farmers who sign up to the Teagasc Signpost advisory programme.

Teagasc's head of Signpost Dr Tom O'Dwyer said that there was a "need to provide each farmer with an estimate of the greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions generated on their specific farm, and to do that in a way that required the minimum of effort on the part of the farmer".

Through the 'assess' feature, farm data is collated from the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme audit to build a picture of the operations on the farm, with data captured such as fertiliser use, concentrates and manure management strategies.

Animal-specific data – such as performance, numbers, and inventory change - is gathered through the ICBF database.

When combined with other on-farm management data, it allows for a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the farm to be completed. 

The LCA is used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia emissions, and other environmental indicators of the farming system. 

This is then used to provide a 'starting point' as to where the farm is in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. 

The second element – 'forecast' – is a live decision support tool, which allows the farmer to calculate the effect different mitigation strategies at different adoption rates have on their overall greenhouse gases and ammonia emissions.

The final step is the 'action planner', through which the farmer and the advisor develop a farm-specific action plan to record the practices that will make a difference on their farm in terms of environmental performance.

Reducing carbon footprint

Dr Ramsbottom said that there are many actions that a farmer can take to reduce their carbon footprint.

"Key ones would be things like changing the type of fertiliser that you use to making it mostly or exclusively protected urea, and that's got a special coating on it that reduces gaseous emissions," he explained.

"The second thing you can do is breed more efficient cows, using their genetic improvement that improves the efficiency with which they produce milk and thus reducing their carbon footprint.

"A third core one is how we spread slurry. If you apply it closely to the ground, you reduce the risk of emissions coming from the slurry."

Other measures include those around improving soil fertility, applying lime, and also incorporating closer - but clover is "probably a slightly more challenging one to do". 

"It would be a longer-term process, you need good soil fertility for it to really thrive; but when you get it established on a farm, it will do two things for you," Dr Ramsbottom continued.

"It will allow you to substantially reduce the amount of fertiliser nitrogen you need to use on your farm, and it will increase animal performance - both of those will reduce your carbon footprint and increase your farm efficiency."

25% emissions target

Dr Ramsbottom said he is confident that over the next number of years, "if we can get maximum uptake of the technologies that are there, it'll have a huge impact on achieving the 25% reduction in gaseous emissions that's set for Irish agriculture".

"I think we're pretty much the first country in the world to have a concrete plan and a dedicated team of advisors and a clear pathway to the emissions reduction target that's been set for us," he added.