The answer from the three speakers at the IFA climate conference on the question as to whether cattle numbers in Ireland should be cut was two to one – two for holding and one for cutting numbers.
The divide between scientists on farming and climate change was again evident at the event in Kildare Street on Tuesday.
Prof John Fitzgerald, chair of the National Expert Advisory Council on Climate Change, which advises the Government, reiterated previously reported suggestions that Ireland needed to cut suckler cows to help reach EU targets on emissions.
Trees
Teagasc Prof Frank O’Mara said if we hold cattle numbers Ireland is OK, especially if we plant more trees while using improved technologies such as slurry dribble bars and protected urea.
Climate air specialist Prof Frank Mitloehner from the University of California, Davis said Ireland should be able to hold numbers, but not increase, and maybe use smart technologies that will reduce the methane emissions per cow.
In the US we have used carbon credits to farmers and they have found ways to reduce carbon dioxide
You can pick flaws in all three responses. The forestry option is obviously possible on some land but is a slow burner in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, as Mitloehner said.
Fitzgerald suggested the local area impact on jobs in rural Ireland of farming forestry as opposed to livestock was minimal.
However, from the audience, Carlow farmer Derek Deane didn’t agree. He suggested forestry was akin to a CPO (compulsory purchase order) on land, as it was taken away for over 30 years with a low return.
CAP funds
Reducing suckler cow numbers from farmers in the second half of their farming career is also a slow burner, as Fitzgerald himself admitted, but he suggested CAP funds could be used to help this transition.
New technologies and additives that Mitloehner referred to for reducing methane emissions in grazing animals are not yet available. Some more intensive livestock feeding countries have seen benefits to using these types of products but grazing studies are more mixed on responses and intakes.
Three proposals
Mitloehner was also asked what were the first three things he would do if he was working with the climate council in Ireland.
He said: “The first thing I would do is decouple the methane from the other greenhouse gases and manage those targets differently as New Zealand are discussing. Secondly, I’d look into sequestration – there is a lot of potential in this for Ireland and it’s not accurately qualified. Thirdly, I’d work with farmers so the options are feasible and doable.
“In the US we have used carbon credits to farmers and they have found ways to reduce carbon dioxide and a market has been created for credits and this has made a major change.”
More updates from the conference will appear in this week's issue of the Irish Farmers Journal and on farmersjournal.ie.
Read more
Can the 'greenhouse gas guru' bring some common sense to the climate debate?
‘Some farmers feel they’re being made out to be environmental terrorists’
Higher replacement index cows produce less methane
The answer from the three speakers at the IFA climate conference on the question as to whether cattle numbers in Ireland should be cut was two to one – two for holding and one for cutting numbers.
The divide between scientists on farming and climate change was again evident at the event in Kildare Street on Tuesday.
Prof John Fitzgerald, chair of the National Expert Advisory Council on Climate Change, which advises the Government, reiterated previously reported suggestions that Ireland needed to cut suckler cows to help reach EU targets on emissions.
Trees
Teagasc Prof Frank O’Mara said if we hold cattle numbers Ireland is OK, especially if we plant more trees while using improved technologies such as slurry dribble bars and protected urea.
Climate air specialist Prof Frank Mitloehner from the University of California, Davis said Ireland should be able to hold numbers, but not increase, and maybe use smart technologies that will reduce the methane emissions per cow.
In the US we have used carbon credits to farmers and they have found ways to reduce carbon dioxide
You can pick flaws in all three responses. The forestry option is obviously possible on some land but is a slow burner in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, as Mitloehner said.
Fitzgerald suggested the local area impact on jobs in rural Ireland of farming forestry as opposed to livestock was minimal.
However, from the audience, Carlow farmer Derek Deane didn’t agree. He suggested forestry was akin to a CPO (compulsory purchase order) on land, as it was taken away for over 30 years with a low return.
CAP funds
Reducing suckler cow numbers from farmers in the second half of their farming career is also a slow burner, as Fitzgerald himself admitted, but he suggested CAP funds could be used to help this transition.
New technologies and additives that Mitloehner referred to for reducing methane emissions in grazing animals are not yet available. Some more intensive livestock feeding countries have seen benefits to using these types of products but grazing studies are more mixed on responses and intakes.
Three proposals
Mitloehner was also asked what were the first three things he would do if he was working with the climate council in Ireland.
He said: “The first thing I would do is decouple the methane from the other greenhouse gases and manage those targets differently as New Zealand are discussing. Secondly, I’d look into sequestration – there is a lot of potential in this for Ireland and it’s not accurately qualified. Thirdly, I’d work with farmers so the options are feasible and doable.
“In the US we have used carbon credits to farmers and they have found ways to reduce carbon dioxide and a market has been created for credits and this has made a major change.”
More updates from the conference will appear in this week's issue of the Irish Farmers Journal and on farmersjournal.ie.
Read more
Can the 'greenhouse gas guru' bring some common sense to the climate debate?
‘Some farmers feel they’re being made out to be environmental terrorists’
Higher replacement index cows produce less methane
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