Enforcing quota limits on nitrogen input or on milk and meat production “will hit environmental targets with certainty”, member of the An Taisce Climate Committee, Prof. John Sweeney has said.
Agricultural emissions fell by 1.2% in 2022 which was mainly driven by a 14.0% decline in the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.
While the EPA data shows that “hard limits” on fertiliser inputs do limit emissions, he said “waiting for price shocks is very poor policy for meeting climate targets and for most farmers”.
Quota limits on total quantities of nitrogen input, nationally and by watershed, or on outputs of milk and meat production will also “enable greater business confidence for farming”, he said.
A “systematic move away from animal agriculture” would have the “greatest impact” on reducing agricultural emissions, An Taisce head of advocacy, Dr. Elaine McGoff said.
Agricultural emissions
A new Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) identifying cost-effective measures to cut agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was recently published by Teagasc.
An Taisce claimed that the latest MACC does “not appropriately acknowledge the escalation of agriculture emissions almost every year since the first MACC was published in 2012”.
Teagasc’s third MACC looks at three scenarios with differing levels of agricultural activity, however, all forecasting a rise in dairy cow numbers, and a decline in suckler cow numbers.
“Given the failures of previous MACCs, why is the proven mitigation effect of production quotas not examined under the new MACC proposals?
“The MACC proposals only consider measures that perpetuate the existing policy of ongoing expansion of animal agriculture, with all scenarios forecasting an increase in the dairy herd.
“Rather than offering decision-makers and the public a fuller range of policy options that acknowledge the full climate and pollution costs of options,” Dr. McGoff said.
An Taisce
The new MACC is “not fit for purpose”, An Taisce claimed, and it “should not fall to Teagasc to decide what is politically acceptable as a proposal to cut emissions”.
Ireland has committed to a 51% economy-wide GHG emissions reduction target by 2030 based on 2018 levels. As part of this, the agriculture sector must cut its emissions by 25% by 2030.
The measures identified in the MACC include:
- A three-month reduction in finishing age of cattle across the herd;
- Replacing 90% of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertiliser and 100% of straight urea with protected urea;
- The use of feed additives to reduce enteric methane in half of dairy cows;
- The uptake of diversification options to displace 140,000 livestock units.
An Taisce said the MACC is, “in many ways, an exercise in doing the same thing as before and expecting a different result”, and “fails” to set out a range of measures while limiting emissions and pollution.
“Any reasonable analysis of this new MACC publication demonstrates that Teagasc has failed, once again, to follow the scientific evidence and change direction accordingly,” An Taisce said.