Researchers at Trinity College Dublin are exploring whether supply chains could be paying for measures to improve the environmental sustainability on farms as part of its two-year Farm Credits project which will run until April 2026.
Farm Credits will work with Carbey and 10 of its suppliers to look at whether supply chains are willing to pay for “costly” sustainability measures on farm, such as anti-methanogenic feed additives and chemical slurry amendments.
The project is co-ordinated by prof. Yvonne Buckley and has recently been awarded €349,768 in research funding announced by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon.
The research builds on the Farm Zero C project, which saw an emissions reduction of 27% and an increase in on-farm biodiversity to 10%, project researcher Dr. Cian White, who was previously involved in the Farm Zero C project, said.
Farm Credits
Researchers will work with farmers, corporates and the dairy industry through workshops to develop a financial instrument that could transfer sustainability improvements up the supply chain and money back down the supply chain.
Big agri-food corporates, such as Danone, Nestle or Lidl Ireland, he said, are already setting emissions reduction targets, not just for their own operations, but for their supply chains. These are known as “scope-three emissions”.
In order to reach those emissions reduction targets set for their supply chains, corporates need to involve and incentivise farmers as most emissions are happening on farms, particularly in livestock production, Dr. White said.
The project will focus on measures which do not have an economic benefit for farmers. Anti-methanogenic feed additives and chemical slurry amendments cost around €6,000 per farm per year, Dr. White told Agriland.
Emissions from slurry account for about 10% of on-farm emissions, which could be reduced by 80% using chemical amendments. However, unless farmers are incentivised, there is “no economic sense” behind these measures, he added.
There are a lot of different technologies which could be applied on farms, Dr. White said. The research project will establish which sustainability measures farmers would be willing to adopt, if they were paid to do so, and under what conditions.
Sustainability
As part of Farm Zero C, baseline data of the participating farms was gathered with another survey being conducted this year. Measures will then be implemented over the following year and changes in emissions and biodiversity assessed.
Farm Credits will also look at carbon sequestration and establish the level of verification and monitoring needed for corporates to invest in the system. Dr. White believes that if successful, the system can be applied in all sectors.
Engagement will also take place with the DAFM to align the payment system developed under the project with supports already in place under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to avoid double payments, the project researcher said.