FarmAdapt

Project Summary

Although significant uncertainties exist regarding the extent and impact of climate change in Ireland on agriculture, this sector must seek to reduce its exposure to projected changes. Most of the resent research has been focusing on mitigation strategies with very little focus on adapting to future climate.

The FarmAdapt project is:

• Reviewing the literature to find the latest adaptation strategies relevant for Irish agriculture for the grassland, arable and forestry sectors. For each sectors, three main axis will be developed: the main negative effects and risks that climate change will bring; the main opportunities and positive impacts that climate change could bring and, what are the main adaptation strategies which are available or needs development.
• Reviewing the literature to find relevant climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Irish agricultural sector in relation to water, soil and biodiversity;
• Reviewing existing climate adaptation policy from Ireland, the UK and New Zealand
• Conducting surveys and focus groups with farmers to identify the climate adaptation and mitigation solutions they are using or see as workable, and to compare these with approaches proposed in the scientific literature.

The FarmAdapt project will highlight knowledge gaps, practical and social barriers, and the supports farmers need to adopt acceptable and effective policies, helping to prioritise topics for future research calls.

Project Lead

Dr. Elodie Ruelle, Teagasc, Moorepark.

Project Partners

Teagasc, Technological University of Dublin, University College Dublin, University College Cork, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

What’s New?

• Misra, S. and Ruelle, E. (2025) Are multi-species swards a good climate adaptation strategy? EGF Symposium 2025-Proceedings, 405-407, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004751163_105
• Misra, S. and Ruelle, E. (2025). Sustainable Livestock Farming: Assessing Grassland Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change, Book of Abstracts of the 76th EAAP Annual Meeting, Innsbruck, Austria, 25–29 August 2025, ISBN 979-12-210-6769-9. https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/2095411/1/2025_Innsbruck_EAAP_Book_Abstracts.pdf
• Misra S and Ruelle E, Assessing grassland adaptation strategies to climate change – what does the literature say? 2025, Moorepark 25 Open Day: Irish Dairying – Innovating for the Future, 390-391
• Batool A, Burke D, Markiewicz-Keszycka M, Ruelle E, and Hynds P., 2025, Predicting the determinants of Climate Change adaptation among Irish Farmers using Hierarchical Modelling, Tyndall Centre: The Critical Decade for Climate Action Conference

Coming Soon

Summary adaptation strategies for the grassland, crops and forestry sector

Funding

The project is funded under grand number 2022PSS111 provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) through the 2022 Policy & Strategic Studies Research Call. Full title: A systematic review and synthesis of climate adaptation research relevant for Irish agriculture and a research gap analysis and prioritisation