Senator suggests "carbon balance sheet" pilot project for Louth farms
Louth Fianna Fail senator Erin McGreehan has called on the government to implement a policy that would allow farms to be carbon audited to calculate their level of carbon sequestration (how much carbon their land is capturing and storing.)
The senator also suggested that a pilot project be carried out in Louth whereby farms would be audited and given a “carbon balance sheet.”
Speaking in the Seanad yesterday the senator said:
“This is a very important issue, one I have been talking about for many years. I am very frustrated by the lack of clarity on the topic. We have had crazy debates, including some bullying in my opinion, over carbon budgets for agriculture.
“The agricultural sector people speak about is not some sort of anonymous entity. It is the farm I grew up on. It is the farm my neighbours toil on and where they struggle to make ends meet every single day of the week. While we are trying to keep all that going, we must cut emissions, which we agree with, but why are farmers taken advantage of?”
She continued:
“We have big and small farm holdings. They are the carbon sink of this nation and to date there is no acknowledgement of that by the State. Trees, grass, soil and even sheep's wool sequesters carbon. The 400,000 km of hedgerows right across the country is a carbon sink and a biodiversity haven. Even the lowly common hawthorn has about 200 different insects living on it. “
Senator McGreehan gave the example of Devenish, a private agri-technology company, based in Meath that is using sustainable farming initiatives that help decarbonise global agriculture by supporting farmers to continue to produce nutritious meat and milk while improving their carbon balance.
She said that a farm knowing their carbon balance sheet could help the identification of actions that will help the wider agricultural sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions.
Welcoming increases in the national budget to research sustainable agriculture, she concluded:
“I know the Department is behind me on this, but I want to ensure that money will be put into farms to make sure every farm is audited. We could start a pilot project in County Louth because we have every type of agriculture there - tillage, grain, sheep, cattle, dairy and we even have aquaculture - to ensure that every single farm has a carbon balance sheet. I am very excited about this. I hope the new research budget will assist in that regard.”
In response, Minister of State Mary Butler said that:
“The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collaborating with the EPA, Teagasc and other research institutions in a range of research projects to better understand the capacity of Irish soils to sequester carbon in different types of grassland or on different individual farms. It is challenging given the different soil types, crops, climatic conditions and land use to accurately measure carbon sequestration emissions as well as proving the additionality and permanence of carbon sequestration.
“The Minister has provided funding for the formation of a nationwide network of best practice demonstration and research farms under the Teagasc Signpost programme. The Signpost programme is a collaborative partnership of farmers, industry and State agencies working together to lead climate action and the transition towards more sustainable farming systems.”