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While some relatively simple management changes on farms could help lower ammonia emissions by around 20%, any further reductions will require significant investment, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots told MLAs at Stormont this week.
“The capacity to make that investment does not exist in agriculture, and it will therefore require support from the Government if we are serious about it,” explained the Minister on Tuesday.
“Doing nothing is not an option. We need to reduce the amount of ammonia that is currently going into the environment in NI,” he added.
The problem issue of ammonia has been the subject of three online DAERA events this week which are setting the scene ahead of a new draft strategy for reducing emissions expected to be out for public consultation later this year.
The Department is also expected to soon come forward with a third tranche of Tier 1 of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS), with a particular emphasis on items that can help lower ammonia emissions on farms. The first two tranches offered 40% grants on machinery and equipment costing between £5,000 and £30,000.
Last month, DAERA put out a tender seeking outside companies to apply to be the delivery agent for a third tranche of Tier 1, and a possible two further tranches of the scheme. The first two tranches were administered by Dungannon-based Countryside Services. The latest tender closed to applications last week.
The issue of ammonia is unique to agriculture given that it accounts for 96% of emissions in NI. Speaking at the DAERA webinar on Monday, Sara McGuckin from the NI Environment Agency (NIEA) said that ammonia emissions had peaked in 1996, and had been falling after that, but since 2010, emissions are up 19%.
She explained that ammonia is a form of nitrogen, and is released when faeces and urine mix, so it is principally an issue around livestock production and slurry management. This excess nitrogen is leading to significant biodiversity loss at protected sites in NI over the last 20 years, she said.
“It’s very clear that we do need to work together because the current level of ammonia emissions is posing a barrier to achieving truly sustainable agriculture,” she maintained.
At the event on Wednesday Erin Sherry from AFBI outlined work which has looked at the marginal costs and benefits of various different measures to reduce ammonia.
The lowest cost options are to extend the grazing season, lower crude protein levels in livestock diets, improve livestock genetics, switch to protected urea and utilise low emission slurry spreading equipment.
Collectively her studies show that these options combined would cost the industry £7m per year while delivering a 22% reduction in ammonia.
But beyond that, costs spiral, and a 25% reduction would cost £31m per year. “Going beyond that (22%) becomes much more expensive, although there is potential to consider additional measures as technology evolves” she said.
Her work clearly shows that the big initial win is a move to low emission spreading. The calculations are based on all slurry being spread by contractors, with 50% applied using a trailing shoe and 50% with a dribble bar.
SHARING OPTIONS: