European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen has said that any move by the EU to reclassify methane produced by cows will be based on scientific advice.

The commissioner made the comments following an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Dublin yesterday (Tuesday, September 8).

The meeting, hosted by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon as part of Ireland's EU presidency, focused how research and innovation could support the implementation of the EU Livestock Strategy and the Protein Action Plan.

The group also visited University College Dublin (UCD) Lyons farm and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) facility in Co. Kildare to view sustainable livestock farming research and technologies in practice.

"The delegation saw how research, expertise and innovation can contribute to more efficient, competitive and resilient agricultural systems," Minister Heydon said.

Commissioner Hansen agreed with Minister Heydon that livestock farming remains central to European food security.

"The question is not whether livestock has a future in Europe, the question is how we ensure that this future is strong, sustainable and economically viable for farmers and for the society," he said.

He added that research and innovation play "a key role in our ambition to make the sector stronger, more sustainable and more resilient".

Methane

The commissioner was asked if the EU was planning to treat methane emissions differently to other greenhouse gases (GHGs).

The EU Livestock Strategy, presented in July, outlined how "effective methane reduction policy requires accurate measurement".

The strategy states that "certain existing methodologies for estimating livestock emissions do not fully reflect the actual variation in emissions across diverse production systems, breeds and feeding regimes".

The EU Commission is working "on a harmonised methodology for livestock GHG emissions at farm level".

Environmentalists fear that the EU will end up watering down climate commitments if emissions from livestock are reframed as "biogenic methane".

Commissioner Hansen said that the European Board on Agriculture and Food are due to discuss the issue at a meeting next week.

“We have a meeting on September 16 of the livestock strand in order to exactly discuss this point because I think this is very important that we base this on the scientific evidence in close cooperation with the actors and I would not prejudge what is coming out.

"That is not my role as a commissioner and to trust the experts on that point," he said.

The commissioner said noted that "currently a lot of member states are going into different directions" when it comes to methane emissions.

"Some people just say a cow is a cow, but that is not necessarily the case, because yesterday we saw it very clearly, depending on the fodder that the animals will get, the emissions will not be the same, depending on the farming system, it can depend a lot, depending on genetics, it can depend a lot," he said.

He said research and innovation that can provide options and technologies for livestock farmers "needs to hit the ground all over Europe".

Pointing to Irish research showcased during the event, Minister Heydon noted how better genetics are being linked to lower emitting animals.

"We saw the comparison of two animals, the one that had 23% less emitting methane, actually had a 4% greater carcass weight," he said.