Teagasc’s estimate of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity of Irish milk has been reduced by over 10pc.
A new national average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of 0.99 kg CO2-eq per kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) has been calculated after Teagasc recently updated its life cycle assessment model.
The new estimates, seen by the Farming Independent are to be released at the Teagasc Moorepark Open Day 2021, which is taking place this week.
The new research carried out by Teagasc researchers Jonathan Herron, Donal O’Brien and Laurence Shalloo also found technologies presently available for take up at farm level can reduce GHG intensity by 26pc.
They found that improving the efficiency of current dairy systems and the adoption of low emission technologies could reduce the GHG intensity further to 0.73 kg CO2-eq per kg FPCM.
However, the researchers highlighted that updates to GHG emission calculations will not be counted or credited against our GHG reductions targets.
Only changes in management practices and adoption of technologies will be credited.
They also concluded that to reduce the GHG intensity of a kilogramme of milk below 0.73 kg CO2-eq will require investment in new research strategies around methane, nitrogen and carbon sequestration.
It comes as the EU, in its recent 2030 Climate Target Plan, increased their commitment to climate change mitigation by rising greenhouse gas reduction targets to at least 55pc below 1990 levels by 2030> the previous target was a 40pc reduction.
Since the abolition of milk quotas in 2015, national GHG emissions in Ireland have increased by 1.15 million tonnes.
To meet Ireland’s international obligations to reduce GHG emissions, a suite of mitigation strategies have been identified and recommended for dairy farms.
Additionally, in recent years, the recommended international methodologies for quantifying GHG emissions at a macro level have been refined.
Teagasc’s latest work, therefore, aimed to determine the effect of model updates on GHG emissions from an average dairy farm in Ireland and establish targets for 2030 based on potential levels of technology uptake.
The new updates are associated with the development of country-specific emission factors, refinements to international recommended practices, and the adoption of new technologies.
Average herd calving and fertility performance was obtained from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation’s (ICBF) annual dairy calving statistics report. National milk production data was obtained from the Central Statistics Office.
Data for on-farm management practices were obtained from Teagasc’s National Farm Survey.
All emissions up to the point in which the products (milk and animals) leaves the farm were accounted for by the LCA model.
The proportion of emissions attributed to milk and meat production was determined using the revenue generated by each product at the farm level.
The updated LCA model resulted in lower GHG emissions from an average Irish dairy farm (Table 1).
Differences occurred in grazing and fertiliser emissions, due to the adoption of country specific and up-to-date emission factors.
The researchers also looked at a target dairy system, with specific mitigation strategies are broken into two categories for the average dairy farm, 1) improve efficiency and 2) adopt low emission technologies.
The first mitigation strategy includes improvements in soil fertility, increases in grass growth and utilisation, increases in the economic breeding index (EBI), and improvements in herd health.
The second mitigation strategy involves the adoption of low emission technologies such as protected urea and the use of low emissions slurry spreading equipment with reduced GHG emissions and nitrogen losses.
It was found that dairy systems adopting these strategies can reduce their GHG intensity to 0.73 kg CO2-eq per kg FPCM.
The Teagasc Moorepark Open Day 2021 Day is taking place on Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th and Thursday, 16th September 2021. It is repeated over the three days to ensure compliance with government Covid-19 guidelines. Pre registration is required. Visit www.teagasc.ie/moorepark21 to get more information and to register.
