New Anaerobic Digestion (AD) project commences
A multi-disciplinary team at Teagasc held the first online meeting of the technical working group for a new Anaerobic Digestion (AD) project called FLEET. It will identify farm scale, landscape level and national level economic and environmental implications of farm supplied alternative feedstock for Anaerobic Digestion (AD) at a regional level. Teagasc economist Dr Fiona Thorne is the principal investigator on the FLEET project which is supported by the SEAI Research and Development fund.
New Anaerobic Digestion (AD) project commences
This research will be the first of its kind in Ireland to evaluate the potential for Anaerobic Digestion (AD) to address economic and environmental outcomes at an individual farm level using Teagasc, National Farm Survey data. The willingness to adopt land use change will provide useful policy insights and will be at the forefront of knowledge generation relevant to the energy sector.
April 28, 2021 7:37 pm
Using a combination of changes, the average Irish dairy farm can reduce the emissions intensity of its milk over a five-year period by 20%, according to a vision outlined by Alltech.
At the online Alltech Ireland Environment Forum, presented by the animal nutrition giant today (Wednesday, April 28), Dr. Stephen Ross, senior sustainability specialist of Alltech’s E-CO2 division outlined in a presentation how Irish dairy can significantly reduce its carbon footprint.
“We have used information from Teagasc, UCD, Bord Bia and the ICBF to benchmark the current situation on the average Irish dairy farm,” the scientist explained.
Continuing, Ross set out “achievable targets” that the average Irish dairy farm could implement under Alltech’s “vision”, noting:
ICSA president Dermot Kelleher. \ Donal O Leary
Small-scale farmers need an agri-environment schemes that delivers up to €15,000, ICSA president Dermot Kelleher has said.
“This would be a significant boost to cattle and sheep farmers in particular who have never really recovered from the loss of the REPS scheme,” he said.
The ICSA said the proposed eco-scheme should be balanced in favour of low and medium intensity farmers rather than those who require a derogation from the nitrates directive.
“The EU is jumping up and down about the Green Deal, but the reality is that the only way to live off land now is to get into dairying or rent to an intensive, expanding dairy farmer,” Kelleher continued.
Debt levels per cow in different countries
Teagasc research has shown that dairy farms have the highest level of debt across all Irish farming systems and the highest rate of debt.
Close to two-thirds of Irish dairy farms have debt, compared to just 37pc on average across all systems. Just one-third of tillage and cattle rearing farms have debt, with a quarter of sheep holdings carrying borrowings.
The actual level of debt is also highest on dairy units. While average borrowings on all dairy farms comes to around €75,000, the level of debt on drystock farms is under €10,000, and below €20,000 on tillage holdings.