Sustainability performance of Irish farms in 2024 revealed
Teagasc has released its latest Sustainability Report focusing on the year 2024. It has also launched a new sustainability data visualisation dashboard, featuring over a decade’s worth of sustainability metrics for Irish farming.
The Sustainability Report and the Sustainability Dashboard both use Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) to track the progress of Irish dairy, cattle, sheep and tillage farms in improving their economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Trevor Donnellan, Head of the Teagasc Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department and co-author of the report noted, “Since the first report was published in 2013 the Teagasc Sustainability Report has provided a vital reference source to track the economic, environmental and social sustainability of different farm systems across a changing policy environment. The new Sustainability Dashboard charts a wide range of aspects of sustainability for Irish agriculture. It will aid in the understanding of the sustainability performance of Irish agriculture and will be of use to a wide variety of stakeholders”.
Lead author of the report, Dr. Cathal Buckley, Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme noted that; “After a very challening year in 2023 (especially on dairy and tillage farms) most economic sustainability metrics recovered strongly in 2024. The strong economic performance in 2024 was above the long term average in dairy and drystock systems. The Report illustrates that dairy farming remains an economic powerhouse in Irish agriculture with economic returns that are multiples of those achieved in the other farm systems in Ireland.”
In terms of environmental sustainability, measured on a whole farm or per hectare basis, it is notable, that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions declined across the average dairy, cattle and sheep farm in 2024. Lower stocking rates contributed to lower animal related GHG emissions which was sufficient to offset the higher GHG emissions associated with an increase in chemical nitrogen fertiliser application rates. A declining trend was also evident for ammonia emissions.
The report also illustrates the continuing adoption of actions to address environmental emissions, particularly in the case of dairy farmers. For example, in 2024, 45% of slurry application on cattle farms and 85% of slurry application on dairy farms was undertaken using Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment. Dairy farmers also made further progress in the transition to lower emissions chemical fertiliser in 2024, with 40% of the total nitrogen applied in 2024 in the form of protected urea. However, the usage of protected urea on drystock farms remains low, at between 9 to 14% of total chemical N applied for sheep and cattle farms respectively.
Two new social sustainability indicators developed by Dr. Marie Merlo, of the Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme are included in the Report. These indicators are measures of food security. They are based on an assessment of the protein generated across the different farm systems. Results indicate that the average dairy farm generates enough protein per hectare to meet the yearly requirement of 20 people, while the corresponding figures for the average tillage, cattle and sheep farm are 15, 4 and 3 respectively. Collectively, these systems generate enough protein to meet the requirement of circa 36 million people. Even when allowance is made for the protein in animal feed, results indicate these systems collectively provide protein provision to meet the requirement of 30 million people.
Commenting on the release of the report, Teagasc Director, Professor Frank O’Mara, stated: “The new interactive Sustainability Dashboard re-enforces Teagasc’s commitment to generating and publishing sustainability metrics to present a clear picture of the strength and weaknesses of Irish agriculture is a sustainability context. It will assist policy development and policy evaluation.”
The full 2024 Sustainability Report can be viewed at https://teagasc.ie/publications/national-farm-survey-sustainability-report-2024/
and the Sustainability Dashboard is available at https://teagasc.ie/rural-economy/rural-economy/national-farm-survey/enterprise-factsheets-and-dashboards/national-farm-survey-sustainability-dashboard/