New technologies are available that could help farmers meet the 25% emission reduction targets, but they need to be “aggressively” adopted, a leading researcher from Teagasc has warned.

Laurence Shalloo, head of the Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Programme, Teagasc, told the audience at the Animal Health Ireland (AHI) CellCheck Milking for Quality awards (November, 10), that farmers should not delay.

“We can break it into two, the technologies we have available to us now such as protected urea, clover, reducing age at slaughter and economic breeding index (EBI).

“Our message to the audience is that we need to aggressively take those technologies up now.

“If we don’t start now the journey will get bigger as we go forward,” he said.

Shalloo said that if all farmers were to reduce chemical nitrogen by 30% and switching over to protected urea it could effectively reduce emissions by 1.2 million tonnes – which is over 20% of the way to the target.

He detailed how Irish farmers in the last 10 years had reduced the age of slaughter by 70 days, he said Ireland needed to keep this trend going and also “ramp” it up a small bit.

Shalloo shared with the audience at the awards ceremony that including the technologies that are currently available to farmers there is also a significant programme of research underway that will deliver benefits in the future.

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He noted that less than a year ago the reduction in emissions was a much bigger challenge than it is now, due to research that has be done in this time.

He said: “In the last year we have found out that we were dramatically over-estimating the emission from our dairy cows at grass and when housed.

“We found out that by selecting for EBI it was holding our methane content, when we thought it was increasing as milk yield went up.

“We also know now that we have two additives that can reduce methane in a grazing system.

“In addition we knew there was additives that could reduce methane in a total mixed ration setting, now they are less than we would like at 7-8% but it is something to work on.”

According to the leading Teagasc researcher the focus should now be on developing a feed additive that can reduce methane emission by 20%, that is affordable, that gives a consistent result and has a low reinduce affect.

Shalloo said: “We need farmers to take up the technologies currently available and we in the research community have a big programme of work to work on developing new solutions.”

AHI CellCheck

The AHI CellCheck Milking for Quality awards took place yesterday evening at the Killashee House hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare.

The event saw 500 farmers collect their awards for expectational milk quality and the 16 champions from each of participating co-ops were also named.

There were also a number of farmers with average somatic cell counts (SCC) in 2021 of 37,000 cells/ml.

As part of the awards ceremony a panel discussion was held which focused on the ‘new era in Irish dairy farming’.

The discussion was moderated by Prof Karina Pierce from UCD [University College Dublin] and included David Graham, CEO of AHI; Siobhan Kavanagh from Teagasc; John Keane, President, Macra; Conor Mulvihill, Director of Dairy Industry Ireland (DII); Laurence Shalloo, Teagasc.

Much of the discussion focused on the reduction in emission target that has been set for agricultural sector.

The panel at AHI CellCheck awards

Animal health

David Graham, chief executive, of AHI provided an insight into the role of animal health in the reduction of emission from the agricultural sector.

Graham noted that it is difficult to measure the contribution of animal health to reducing emission, but that within the MAC curve it is 8%.

“Animal health is an enabling measure, that facilities the other measure to realise their potential.

“Sick animals, inefficient animals is inefficient production which result in more emission, and we have seen were we improve animal health, were we improve welfare we increase efficiency.”

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Graham also noted a number of opportunities with the sector that can still be improved including:

  • The 37% of herds with an SCC of over 200,000cells/ml on an annual basic;
  • Lameness which has impact on animal welfare and efficient on farms.

He noted that there has been a lot achieved, but there is more to go.

Dairy sector

Conor Mulvihill, director of DII, also gave some insight into the how the dairy industry is going to support farmers in the uptake of emission reduction measures.

“We are in the process of getting a road map agreed upon in the Food Vision Dairy Group – were nearly there,” he said.

Mulvihill added: “Not one other sector has a roadmap on how to achieve the targets set out by the government – we are a hair’s breath from having that roadmap.

“We will be the first dairy industry on the planet to have a roadmap, that is not insignificant.

“No other dairy industry on the planet has a whole government and whole sector approach and this approach is what is going to drive Irish dairy into the future.”

Mulvihill also noted that a number of co-ops have introduced a sustainability bonus for their supplies and he told the audience that more co-ops will introduce this in the future.