Dr. John Gilliland:

That is done with a little lime, but often. In our last lime application we took it one step further. As we do our soil sampling with GPS, we can build up soil pH maps and we can put in that data. The last time we spread lime, and the contractor who spread it for us has a variable rate lime spreader, we were able to put lime on where it was needed and not put it on where it was not needed. That is why we are passionate about switching over to the digitilisation of the landscape. It means using the right inputs where they are needed and not wasting them. We also need to be careful. We do not want to put large quantities of lime on highly organic soils and release carbon.

The second area we have looked at is multispecies. Anecdotally, our evidence is showing that already there appears to be an improvement in soil carbon. However, as Dr. Lanigan said in the previous session, measuring change in soil carbon is a slow process. It is really a five-year window. The initial results we are getting after year one and year two are looking positive, but we would prefer to tell the committee the result after year five. It is not that we want to delay it but that if we want to get cast iron figures, we must give it a chance. As we turn this supertanker we know there are certain things that will increase carbon.

As well as improving pH in mineral soils and multispecies swards, we are looking at silvopasture, which is putting trees, swards and animals together. That is alien to 99% of farmers, but one must look at the data. The longest trial in silvopasture in the European Union sits in Loughgall, County Armagh. There are more than 30 years of data on that. The carbon sequestration there has been trebled while still maintaining animal output.

In the case of economics, at the end of year one we had a 180% increase of profitability on the multispecies vis-à-visthe perennial ryegrass. We are just finishing year two and we are seeing nothing in that journey to say it is any different. We have reduced the greenhouse gas intensity per kilogram of beef and lamb by 26% in one year just by switching from the perennial ryegrass to the multispecies, dropping the nitrogen by 65% and improving average daily live weight gain. That is quite stunning.

Finally, on the international side, as an island we export 80% of what we produce. When we went on this journey we did not just partner with Teagasc and UCD. We went to the Netherlands and partnered with the world's leading university in agriculture and environment, Wageningen University & Research. The reason we did that is we wanted our science to be credible in the eyes of the international consumer who buys our product. It is very important when we go on this journey that our international consumers see our journey as credible. That is why we reached out to Wageningen University & Research as well as Teagasc and UCD. We believe that as a global company we must be credible in the eyes of the global consumer.