Livestock farming is often blamed for the climate crisis. It goes from the very extreme to the downright ridiculous in some cases. I personally believe climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity and no one should run and hide from it and it’s true that livestock production does contribute to emissions in this country, but it’s important to find some balance.

Global warming is caused by three major greenhouse gases: carbon (mainly fossil fuel emissions), methane (large % ruminants) and nitrous oxide (large % agriculture). These greenhouse gases create a layer of gas that is responsible for global warming.

Globally, carbon from fossil fuels and industrial practices makes up the largest component. When this carbon (fossil fuels) is released in the atmosphere, it takes thousands of years to break down. Methane is much more potent, but it will break down in 10-12 years. This means if our livestock figures stabilised, we would reduce our impact. Which makes a great argument for stabilising cow numbers and getting more from what we have.

The big area we can impact is in improving animal health, but we must also remember that grass-based livestock farming has huge advantages.

Why?

Growing grass, trees, hedges and even soils takes carbon (CO2) from the atmosphere. This CO2 is taken up by plants to grow by photosynthesis. So our farms are actually carbon collectors, as well as emitters of methane from cows. This doesn’t mean we can ignore science and not do better. The big gains in grass-based systems must be on how we use fertiliser, particularly nitrogen and the research on mixed species swards seems quite exciting.

The science also shows our bogs have huge potential as carbon sinks, which makes peat an unsustainable animal bedding for farms of the future.

Protected urea, dribble bars and more strategic nitrogen use will all play a role in the future. Who knows, there might even be a feed additive to reduce the belching of methane from our cows.

In many incidences, these animals are taking a non-edible (for humans) product from parts of the country we can’t grow crops and turning it into an energy-dense protein source for us.

We need more balance in the debate around climate change and we need real change, but this will only come if we meet in the middle. While there will always be extremes, making the necessary changes requires time and patience. We need practical approaches. We must remember all food production has an environmental impact, but grass-based livestock farms of the future might have the potential to be carbon neutral.

So what can we can do?

One practical thing Irish farmers can do to have a positive impact is improving animal health and efficiency on farms. If we don’t increase our numbers, then we don’t impact methane in the atmosphere. If we further improve our farms ability to sink (soak up) carbon, we are improving on both ends. This can also be done with a view of maintaining and enhancing our farms biodiversity.

So in simple terms, we can increase animal efficiency (through better health) on farm and try to increase the ability of our farms to store carbon.

Efficiency

Eight years ago I said that longevity would be a key metric for the dairy cow. It didn’t go down well at the time, but I didn’t have the conviction or belief to back my ideas then. Today, I’m saying again that longevity is a massive metric for the dairy farm of the future. Building a farm where animal biology is maximised, and the environment (housing, etc) and management favour wellbeing is the type of excellent standard we need to be striving towards. Instead of chasing low cost systems, we must be chasing profitable systems that are sustainable.

If you look at carbon output (methane emissions) versus protein produced, an Irish dairy cow does a good job at producing an energy dense food with the amount of emissions produced. It removes two years worth of carbon (some carbon is sequestered in grass), with no protein produced to get it there. We must keep cows milking for as long as we can. We will always have culling for infertility issues, but for health issues we can certainly reduce our culling. Can you imagine if we increased the national herd average lactation from 3.5 to 4.5 lactations, what that would mean for an increase in efficiency?

We simply cannot do this with genetics alone and must review our management systems, working harder on animal health and husbandry. You can certainly breed a healthier, more resistant animal, but genetics only “creates the potential,” as vet Doreen Corridan says. It is good management that achieves it and disease has the potential to destroy it.

Disease

A proactive lameness plan with good cow flow, roadways, space and comfort will keep cows in the system longer. We must focus on our indoor management of cows around transition and calving. I believe this is a big bottleneck in a lot of dairy farms.

Simple things like clean water, more space, improved hygiene and lying comfort can make a huge difference. We must ensure we move to having one cow one bed (cubicle).

Disease costs money, but it also has a very negative impact on the climate.

A great example of a disease that effects emissions is pneumonia in beef animals. Beef animals with pneumonia have reduced lung function, take longer to finish and have reduced performance. It also costs farmers a lot of money. Better housing, ventilation and vaccination, have a huge cost benefit but also might have a carbon saving benefit. Plus, we use 60%-70% of our antibiotics in beef animals treating pneumonia. Better animal health has the potential to tackle some of our biggest farming challenges such as the environment, antibiotic resistance and improving welfare.

Sheep lameness is another disease that, when managed, can improve efficiency in the flock, save money and in it’s own small way save the environment.

Animal health must now be a priority on our farms, as the rules of the game are changing. Irish farmers should not be afraid of this - we have the systems and the knowledge to adapt. Better welfare and health mean more profitable farms. If they don’t, there is something I’ve been missing for the last 10 years.

This is a win all round, a more proactive approach to efficiency within the farm gate improves welfare and also means we can ensure the trust of the consumer of the future.

Agriculture is a part of our environmental story and it also has the potential to lead the way forward. It’s time to move to solutions and collaborations.

Change can be uncomfortable, but most of all it can be fantastic. Times are changing and we must too.