Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlies McConalogue has officially launched an information booklet, produced by Easyfix, aimed at helping farmers deal with the challenge of climate change.
The company said that the goal behind the booklet is to educate and inform farmers about climate change, and to explain what greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are, their causes and solutions that are available to reduce GHGs on-farm.
Easyfix said that it focused on technologies that will help cut farm emissions from animal housing and slurry storage.
The company added that slurry storage and animal housing are two of the biggest causes of ammonia emissions from Irish farms accounting for 48%.
Reducing ammonia
The booklet contains points of information about ammonia reduction on farm
Looking at the sources of ammonia emissions, there are a number of steps that farmers can take to reduce ammonia emissions, according to Easyfix.
That said, the adoption of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) can reduce ammonia emissions by up to 60%, the booklet mentions.
However, the investment in equipment, even with government support, is expensive and it is very difficult to see adoption rates high enough to make a significant impact, the company added.
“Many farmers, particularly in the beef sector, would find it hard to justify the investment,” the booklet reads.
According to a June 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report, only 16% of slurry was being applied by LESS technology.
Climate change information
Managing director of Easyfix, Michael Earls, said: “Climate change is undeniably the biggest challenge facing agriculture.
“Farmers are concerned about what will be the impact of climate change measures. We want to allay their concerns by outlining proven technology-based solutions.
“The debate in Ireland has become very polarised and has been too narrowly focused on herd reduction,” he added.
The managing director said there has been little or no debate on the role of technology in meeting emissions reduction targets.
“We are delighted that Minister McConalogue has honoured us with his presence at this launch and we have had a very constructive engagement with the minister on this matter in recent months,” Earls added.