Emissions trends 'going in the right direction' as farmers 'follow the science'

Macra has welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency's report today which shows a reduction in emissions.

Agricultural emissions overall decreased by 1.2% or 0.29Mt of CO2 equivalent in 2022. 

It is "promising to see greenhouse gas trends going in the right direction" as farmers "follow the science" and implement measures on their farms, according to Macra national president Elaine Houlihan.

Macra has welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency's report today which shows a reduction of 1.9% compared to 2021, with emission reductions in all key sectors except transport, according to the provisional results.

Agricultural emissions overall decreased by 1.2% or 0.29Mt of CO2 equivalent in 2022. 

A decrease of 14% in nitrogen fertiliser use, to 343,000 tonnes, made significant progress towards the 330,000-tonne target for 2025 in the Climate Action Plan and resulted in fewer 0.44Mt of CO2 equivalent emissions from agriculture. 

These reductions offset the impact of higher dairy cow numbers which increased for the 12th successive year, the EPA said.

Total milk production increased by 0.7% in 2022, with milk output per cow decreasing slightly (0.2%).

Changes needed

Elaine Houlihan commented on the EPA's release: "The decrease in the use of artificial nitrogen fertilisers will also have a positive knock-on effect on our water quality; this, however, will take a few years to become clear as it normally takes five years for changes to affect water quality.

"Macra also calls for caution and warns against complacency as the changes that will be needed over the coming decades will have to be led by science. 

"They will have to be implemented by farmers who appreciate the value of following the science, in this case it will be the one in 16 Irish farmers, those that are classed as young farmers. 

"There will be a direct correlation between the decrease in the 1:16 ratio and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector."

Land-use

The land-use, land-use change, and forestry sector accounted for 10.7% of the total emissions in 2022 and decreased by 0.5%. 

The main source of emissions is from grasslands on organic soils that have been drained for agricultural production. 

Net grassland emissions were 6.8Mt of CO2 equivalent in 2022 while forest land became a net source in 2022 (0.4Mt CO2 equivalent) as more trees reached harvesting age.