The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM’s) failure to publish a proposed dairy exit scheme in the final quarter of last year (Q4 2023) has been highlighted in a new report.
The fourth and final Progress Report on Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2023 details progress made across government departments on the 161 new actions which were due for completion in Q4 2023.
The report shows a delivery rate of 60% with 96 actions completed on time in the timeframe.
Although agricultural emissions decreased by 1.4% between 2021 and 2022, they are still reported to have been higher than the proposed pathway outlined in CAP23.
The report said that the sector now needs to reduce emissions by, on average, 8.3% annually for 2023, 2024 and 2025 to remain within the first carbon budget allocation.
Dairy exit scheme
According to the report, DAFM had a delivery rate of 81% in Q4 2023, completing 21 actions, with five being delayed.
Under the Climate Action Plan, 24 out of the 30 actions due for the agriculture sector were completed in total last year, giving an overall delivery rate of 80%.
The report noted that progress had been made with the launch online interactive digital platform called AgNav developed by Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
Among the examples of high impact sectoral actions delayed in Q4 2023 for agriculture were a proposal for a cow reduction or an exit scheme.
The report said that this action will now carry forward for delivery and reporting under the 2024 version of the Climate Action Plan “as a high impact action for the sector”.
It noted that the “need for diversification options for livestock farmers to achieve required emissions reductions in agriculture was recognised in CAP23”.
“The plan also recognised that, to have an impact, any voluntary herd reduction must be structured in a way that ensures that reductions in breeding ruminants on one farm are not offset by increases in overall breeding ruminant numbers (i.e. more cows on other farms).
“The careful design of any cow reduction or exit scheme would be key to achieving this objective,” it added.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue previously said that there is no allocation in his department’s budget for next year to implement a dairy exit scheme.
The report noted that the National Biomethane Strategy, which had already been delayed from the previous quarter, was not delivered in Q4 2023.
The finalised version of that strategy is now due be published by the end of March, after a period of public consultation came to a close at the end of last month.
The National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory which had been delayed from Q2 2023, was still not fully operational in the final quarter of the year.
Climate Action Plan
In relation to Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), the report highlighted the importance of “rapidly increasing tree planting, managing the water table on agricultural
organic soils, and restoring peatland”.
This is due to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that emissions from the LULUCF sector will increase to 2023 as forestry reaches harvesting age and becomes a carbon source, rather than a sink.
Completing a land use review was a key commitment in the Programme for Government.
Phase 1 of the review was published in Q1 2023, interim reporting due to government on phase 2 in Q4 2023 was not completed on time, a status report was issued on December 20.
Phase 2 is needed to translate the scientific results from phase 1 into the policies, measures and actions necessary to achieve economic, social and climate objectives from land.
The need for the interim report has now been superseded by the publication of the Climate Action Plan 2024 which includes a new approach to LULUCF. A detailed implementation plan is due to be delivered in mid-2024.
Periodic status reports on the land use review will continue in 2024, with a final report now expected in spring 2025.