What will the farms of the future look like and what changes will farmers have to embrace to meet the challenges facing the agri sector? These are questions on the minds of many, and posed by Teagasc.
Teagasc has a suite of technologies to help producers farm sustainably from an economic, social and environmental perspective, and these technologies will be showcased at a major open day on August 30, at the Teagasc Environmental Research centre in Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford.
The economic and physical performance of the liquid-milk herd and the dairy calf-to-beef herd in Johnstown Castle will be presented for farmers to examine and discuss.
The breeding and grassland management strategies for both enterprises will be highlighted, especially the use of clover and multispecies swards to replace artificial nitrogen. Strategies and techniques to get more clover into grass swards will be demonstrated.
Current challenges
Farming is facing a number of environmental challenges. The sector is legally bound to reduce emissions and a significant, concerted effort by all in the sector is required to achieve the targets set. Existing technologies and new technologies will be required.
Teagasc is asking farmers to implement the first phase of technologies immediately on their farms, which we know will reduce emissions. Reducing nitrogen fertiliser use is important for reducing emissions and is a major cost saving on farms.
Reducing nitrogen-related emissions can be done by using protected urea instead of calcium ammoniun nitrate (CAN) and urea. Sowing white clover and other legumes into grass swards to replace some of the artificial fertiliser, using low emission slurry spreading instead of splash plate, soil testing to know if soil phosphorous and pH, needs to be corrected through the application of lime leading to a reduced nitrogen fertiliser requirement.
The responsibility for reducing emissions lies with every farmer in the country across all enterprises. Dairy, beef, sheep, tillage and pig farmers; big or small; north, south, east or west; good land or bad land, intensive or extensive everyone has a role to play.
There is a roadmap of existing and emerging technologies that will help us to achieve the target set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The focus right now has to be on using the existing technologies that are available to us today. We cannot afford to wait for emerging technologies. There is no silver bullet; it’s a combination of simple actions that will help reduce emissions on Irish farms.
Farming for a Better Future – What will you see?
Below is a look into what attendees of the Farming for a Better Future open day will see and hear about.
Grass Clover and Multispecies swards
New information for successful management of grass-clover and multi-species swards under winter and spring-calving dairy and dairy calf-to-beef systems will be available.
Fertiliser and Slurry Technologies
Get the latest information on fertiliser and slurry technologies for increasing nutrient efficiency and grass growth, reducing gaseous emissions, enhancing carbon sequestration and soil health.
Biodiversity and Water Quality
Practices to enhance on-farm biodiversity, including hedgerow management will be demonstrated. Find out what your hedges are doing for climate change by storing carbon.
Practical steps will be shown to reduce losses of valuable nutrients from the soil and the ASSAP programme advisors will be on hand to discuss practical methods to protect water quality on your farm.
Dairy and dairy-beef systems
Dairy cow nutrition for winter milk production will be discussed, as well as lessons learned from the Green Acres and DairyBeef500 programmes. Benchmarks for measuring the efficiency and the economic and environmental performance of dairy and dairy-beef production systems will be presented.
Teagasc Advisory and Education
Teagasc advisory services will be available to discuss how the new agri-environmental scheme, organic farming scheme, or forestry scheme may fit into support your farm business. The next generation of farmers can also find out what education and training opportunities are on offer.
Machinery Demonstration
See the latest relevant machinery to aid farmers reduce their reliance on artificial nitrogen fertiliser. See demonstrations of the latest low emission slurry spreading equipment, methods and machinery for over-sowing clover into existing grass swards and the steps to calibrate fertiliser spreaders to accurately apply protected urea and other products.
Visit the Teagasc Environment Research Centre, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford on Tuesday, August 30, to see the Technologies to help you ‘Farm for a Better Future’.
More information can be found by clicking here.
