Grass production on all farms above 100 livestock units (LU) or 130kg of organic nitrogen (N) per hectare will have to be recorded, according to the national climate and air roadmap for the agriculture sector, entitled ‘Ag Climatise’.
This will be part of an overall action on improved grassland management according to the roadmap, which was launched earlier today (Wednesday, December 9).
The roadmap includes 29 actions with specific and challenging targets aimed at reducing the environmental footprint and further building on the strong credentials of Irish agriculture – with one action listed as “Maximising production of grazed grass”.
- Develop national training and mentoring programs for grassland/pasture management on dairy and beef farms;
- Roll out the Grass10 training to a greater cohort of beef and dairy farmers;
- Recording of grass production on all farms above 100 livestock units or 130kg organic N per ha is required.
“Increasing the proportion of grazed grass in the feed budget and reducing the proportion of grass silage in the diet improves feed digestibility and quality,” the roadmap says.
“Improving the digestibility and quality of feed consumed reduces methane emissions because of improvements in animal productivity, as well as reductions in the proportion of dietary energy lost as methane.
“Furthermore, extended grazing reduces the period manure is stored, thereby reducing methane emissions generated during this storage period. Grazing conditions must be considered at all times.
Improved grazing management achieved through grass measurement and allocation will increase grass production and utilisation without a requirement to increase N fertiliser use.
“Increasing grass as a proportion of the animal’s diet will reduce the requirement for imported feed, thus reducing nitrogen imports onto the farm,” the Ag Climatise document concludes.