Exploring what the “new normal” will look like for sustainable dairy is part of the ongoing work of a project aiming to create more climate-resilient food systems in Ireland.
The “deep demonstration project” involves a partnership between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and EIT Climate-KIC, an innovation agency co-funded by the EU.
Over the past 18 months, the project team has been working with stakeholders to examine what new and existing projects can be used to ensure that the agriculture sector meets its emissions reduction targets.
Under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, emissions from agriculture must fall by 25% by 2030, while the food system must be climate neutral by 2050.
Project
Following “extensive engagement” with industry stakeholders, including farmers, the deep demonstration project team has created seven “flagships”, all of which are interconnected.
These flagships are an umbrella for almost 200 projects, both new and existing, aiming to promote sustainable agricultural business models, while meeting challenging climate targets.
“There’s an awful lot going on in Ireland; it’s like an onion, there’s just layers upon layers upon layers of stuff happening. That is brilliant, but it does make it really hard to try and join the dots between everything,” Stewart Gee, the designer and producer of the Ireland Agri Food Deep Demonstration, told Agriland.
“We’re on the activation phase of the seven flagships, going a bit deeper, engaging stakeholders with real interest in particular topics, and trying to join the dots between what’s going on, find out where the gaps are, and then develop a plan to address those gaps to go forward.”
Although the team has already engaged with farmers, Gee, who is from a farming background, stressed that there will be more time for consultation in the design phase for the flagships, including farmer focus groups and discussions with farm organisations.
Sustainable dairy
Gee said that a 25% emissions reduction by 2030 will not get Ireland to a carbon neutral economy by 2050.
One of the four short-term flagships centres on emission reduction on Irish dairy farms.
“Nobody is talking about what actual fully sustainable dairy is, in terms of your environmental, economic and your social pillars. So let’s co-create that first, forget about the measures that we have in the bank already and all the stuff that we know,” Gee said.
“A farmer stood up at our first workshop and he said, ‘What does it look like for me? What does my farm looked like in 2050?’,” he said.
The approach taken by the team will not just concentrate on farms, but also on what the surrounding landscape and region will look like by mid-century.
“If we don’t start talking about 2050 now, in 2031 it will be too late to talk about it, so we need to always have an eye on the longer term,” he said.
The team is working on the “boundary conditions” for sustainable dairy in Ireland and how that can be achieved by farmers and processors in the coming decades.
They are also engaging with existing initiatives such as the Bioregional Weaving Lab in Co. Waterford, which takes a holistic landscape-based approach to agriculture.
“The idea will be to come up with a list of incentives to try and figure out how we get from where we are to where you want to go,” Gee said.
Carbon farming
Another of the seven flagships is diversifying farmers’ income through carbon farming and nature credits.
The project team has been supporting DAFM on developing a carbon farming framework, which is due to be finalised by the end of the year, following a period of public consultation.
This included interviews and workshops to gather the views of stakeholders on barriers and opportunities for sustainable agri-food systems in Ireland.
Teagasc recently launched a new Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) which called for “a very high uptake” of currently available climate mitigation measures by farmers in order to achieve the emissions reduction target.
“What people think is that if we can incentivise, and there’s a payment for ecosystem services, well then that encourages a swifter transition,” Gee said.
“The big challenge is who pays for it and how much they’re willing to pay for it. The state can’t foot the whole bill, it’s just not possible, and neither can the EU.
“So we have to figure out where the extra money is going to come from. And that’s a huge part of our work,” he continued.
“There is a massive amount of data being collected at the moment on farm. So it’s almost about how do we monetise that? How do we make sure that the data collection is robust enough and verifiable enough that someone will pay for it?” Gee said.
Funding
As the various flagships become more concrete, the project team is working on securing investment both nationally and internationally.
The activation phase for the flagships is due to finish next spring, which will be accompanied by a funded implementation plan.
The majority of the flagships will then require an implementation phase of at least three years.
Stewart Gee is also overseeing the delivery of two other flagships – growing and diversifying the tillage sector and certified climate-neutral beef production.
The team is currently waiting on the final report of the Food Vision Tillage Group, while further progress with stakeholders on the beef flagship is expected in October.
The remaining three flagships are focused on the longer term, up to 2050, and include circular bioeconomy models, reimagining Ireland’s agri-food system and innovation and investment in new value chains.
Conference
As part of a week of community events, EIT Climate-KIC will host a conference on how to achieve sustainable food systems in Ireland and beyond at the O’Reilly Hall at University College Dublin on Thursday, September 28.
Delegates will have a chance to hear about progress and activities from the deep demonstration partnership.
Speakers at the event will include: Minister of State with responsibility for research and development, farm safety and new market development, Martin Heydon; Bill Callanan, chief inspector at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM); and Saskia Visser, programme manager for the Irish deep demonstration, EIT Climate-KIC.
Among the five panel discussions will be a focus on systems innovation in the land, agri-food system in Ireland, moderated by MC for the event and Agriland editor Stella Meehan.
This panel will feature Pat McCormack, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president, and Richard Clinton, group commercial director, Dawn Meats and Deirdre O’Shea of AON.
During the coffee and lunch breaks there will be networking areas displaying innovative agri-food initiatives, including FARMEYE, Green Restoration Ireland, Fresh Graze and Earthworm Foundation.
The free event will also provide an opportunity for those with new business ideas and innovations to engage with the project team.
For more information or to register for this free event on September 28, click here.