What is AgNav Tillage?
AgNav is a free, voluntary digital sustainability platform available to farmers and advisors across Ireland, as part of a recent Today’s Farm article, Signpost Advisory Programme Manager, George Ramsbottom wrote about its uses on tillage farms.
AgNav was created through a partnership between Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, and is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The recently launched AgNav Tillage calculates the carbon footprint of crops using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model specifically designed for Ireland.
The model used in AgNav Tillage was developed for the Irish tillage sector by Teagasc through a collaboration with Tirlán. On AgNav Tillage, farmers input their data on fertiliser, organic manures, lime, tractor passes, crop yields, cultivations, soil types, cover cropping and straw incorporation, and AgNav will calculate the gross and net greenhouse gas emissions (carbon equivalent) that each crop on their farm is emitting per tonne of produce.
What will AgNav Tillage do for me?
Irish tillage farmers have long suspected their products have a low carbon footprint, but up until now their carbon footprints could only be calculated using international models based on research from other countries.
Early results from AgNav’s Ireland-specific tillage LCA indicate that Irish tillage farmers’ carbon footprints are lower than previously calculated. For Irish tillage farmers, proving the low carbon footprint of Irish grain should lead to higher demand for Irish grain domestically by feed compounders, potentially resulting in higher future grain prices.
For other premium grain markets, sustainability bonuses can be achieved with the inclusion of low to zero carbon emission grain in added-value products.
Speaking on this topic, Andy Doyle from Tillage Industry Ireland said: “Tillage Industry Ireland sees AgNav as having the potential to provide a major point of differentiation for “Irish” grains over imported grains. Now it’s up to individual growers to assess their own numbers to help sell the low emissions benefits of “Irish” grains in supply chains.”
How can I sign up and log-in?
Tillage farmers can sign-up for AgNav Tillage directly on AgNav’s website by clicking the ‘Tillage Registration’ button. To register, farmers will need to enter their name, address, herd number, email address and phone number. They will also need to select their recognised assurance scheme (i.e., IGAS) and provide and verify their certification number.
When signing up, farmers will have the option of also joining Teagasc’s free Signpost Advisory Programme to receive advisory support. If farmers join the Signpost Advisory Programme, the advisor can also help them fill out the survey and navigate the AgNav website.
For further insights on AgNav Tillage, read the full article (PDF) from Today’s Farm here.