Teagasc is enabling farmers to implement '8 Actions for Change' to protect and improve water quality, with Teagasc experts Philip Murphy, Noel Meehan, and Pat Dillon outlining the aims of the Better Farming for Water Campaign.

The specialists noted that the protection and improvement of water quality is a long-term process, but every individual and targeted action in the short-term pays dividends.

The value of an action is determined by its effectiveness at minimising or eliminating the pollutant of concern (nutrients, sediment, morphology/channelisation etc.) entering a waterbody, according to the research and advisory body.

Teagasc said that maximising that effectiveness requires data-driven decision-making at catchment scale and action by all practitioners at farm scale.

The Better Farming for Water Campaign is a catchment-to-farm scale approach to selecting the right measure for the waterbody, adapting it for its implementation, and monitoring its effectiveness.

The toolkit of measures starts with the '8 Actions for Change'.

The eight actions are as follows:

Nutrient Management

Reduced purchased nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) surplus per hectare;
Ensure soil fertility is optimal for lime, phosphorus and potassium;
Ensure application of fertiliser and organic manure at appropriate times and conditions.

Farmyard Management

Have sufficient slurry and soiled water storage capacity;
Manage and minimise nutrient loss from farmyards and roadways;
Fence off watercourses to prevent bovine access.

Land Management

Promote targeted use of mitigation actions such as riparian margins, buffer strips, and sediment traps to mitigate nutrient and sediment loss to water;
Maintain over-winter green cover to reduce nutrient leaching from tillage soils.

Teagasc noted that by using local water quality data, these '8 Actions for Change' will be adapted to address the pollutant of concern and ensure the right measure is in the right place on every farm.

The campaign is currently prioritising six catchments in the south and east of Ireland: Boyne, Slaney, Barrow/Nore, Suir, Blackwater, and Lee/Bandon.

The campaign will be delivered in each catchment through stakeholder engagement through a multi-actor approach.

This will be done by engaging farmers, industry, community, and the government to support the implementation and adaption of the '8 Actions for Change'.

The water quality initiative also aims to build awareness through gathering and utilising water quality data, to allow farmers a clear understanding of local water quality challenges.

According to Teagasc, work is ongoing to utilise existing resources of water quality information through the use of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pollution impact potential (PIP) maps, for identifying the distribution of nitrate and phosphate potential risk.

The EPA Targeted Agricultural Measures (TAM) Map is also being used to identify the distribution of issues of concern from agricultural pressures.

Another resource which is being used during the campaign is the Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO) catchment assessment and Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) targeted advice, which will be further enabled by the Better Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership (EIP).