Dr. Jonathan Derham:

My presentation is on resource efficiency. A copy of it should be included in the circulated handout. I will discuss an initiative called "smart farming", but to set things up members can see from my first slide that we face a perfect storm on a worldwide basis of diminishing resources, increasing population and increasing demand for industrial output. It is beyond the capacity of the planet to provide the resources we need to live in the way we do in the developed world. Resource efficiency is about adopting a model of living better while using less. It is a well-recognised policy in Europe, the OECD and UN as a means of identifying the impossible balance of prosperity, progress, development and living within the boundaries of the planet as given to us.
The EPA's model for resource efficiency addresses energy efficiency, clean technology, which is making products more cleanly and with less harmful substances, water conservation, eco-design, which involves designing better products that last longer, are easier to dismantle at end of life and are repairable with replacement parts, and behavioural change, which is a big part of it. We are trying to adjust people's consumption and production behaviours. On the energy efficiency side, we work hand in hand with our colleagues in the SEAI to deliver energy efficiency services into the State and industry.
The next slide features examples of a number of behavioural change activities. Members can see that smart farming is one of a suite of programmes we offer. Members are probably well aware of "stop food waste", which is advertised on radio and television. We throw away 30% of the food we produce. Part of what we must do to be more resource efficient in agricultural production is to stop people wasting the food that is grown and delivered to them. If one piled up all the food waste produced in Ireland annually, it would make a column 150 m high with a base the size of the Aviva stadium pitch at Lansdowne Road. It is a lot of food waste.
The smart farming initiative is a collaboration between the IFA and the EPA. Our normal approach to behavioural change activities in different sectors is to work with a sectoral champion or leader. The IFA came forward and has taken up the baton. The IFA is very keen to drive the matter itself and we are really a supporting agency. It is being delivered by the IFA and represents a successful start to the programme. It is a voluntary programme which is not locked in to any grant aid, obligation or regulatory compliance issue. It is a voluntary, on-farm resource efficiency and cost saving programme. Why did we do it? A gap was identified in our national resource efficiency programme. We have activities in the hospitality sector, industrial manufacturing, the social pillar, homes and communities but did not have a particular activity in the farming sector. That was the gap. In our national recovery plan, farming and food production are a key sector. We felt we had to address it to address the national recovery plan. Food harvest resource efficiency is a strong theme running through that. The cost of inputs to Irish farms was €5.5 billion in 2013. If we only manage a modest 1% efficiency gain, it saves the farming sector €55 million. There are clear gains.
Members will see from slide 7 on page 4 that it is not just the EPA and the IFA that are involved. The programme was put together, led by the IFA, in collaboration with UCD's school of agriculture, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Teagasc, the Fertilizer Association of Ireland, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the Irish Grasslands Association and the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association. There are seven major themes in the smart farming programme: soil fertility, grassland, machinery, time management, inputs, energy and feed. The approach includes top tips on how farm enterprises can save money by doing simple things better for little to no investment. It increases the efficiency and production of farms and leads to a double dividend. It generates a financial dividend for farms while reducing the overall environmental burden and resources input. An example is soil fertility. Members will see from the handout that this is about lime and the proper pH of soil. My colleagues from Teagasc are probably more expert than me in this regard but I note that low soil pH reduces the availability of nutrients. This is about getting the right soil tests to improve the use of fertiliser. The yield is €20 per acre in savings on fertiliser in getting the pH balance right. It is a question of linking the environmental gain with the clear economic gain.
Members can see the sheets on farm machinery. We have found that many small farms are over-mechanised with tractors and machinery that are far too powerful for the size of the farm unit. One of the challenges we have in addressing this as a national policy issue is determining how to match machinery size to the scale of the farm. Simple things can be done on machinery such as addressing the waste of fuel associated with low tyre pressure and travelling to distant and isolated blocks of land. Dr. Schulte has more comments on those sorts of issues.
Members can see, if they go through the sheets, that there are useful and straightforward tips for farm enterprises to reduce their environmental burden while saving money. This is all available on the web as a free resource regardless of whether one is a member of the IFA. Any farmer can access the material. We held a very well-attended national conference last year to launch the initiative accompanied by an excellent 12 page supplement in the Irish Farmers' Journal. The initial phase involved resource efficiency assessments or cost saving studies on five candidate farms in autumn 2013. We saved an average of €5,000 per farm, a not insignificant sum for these small farm enterprises for no or low investment. These are young, engaged and highly motivated farmers who believed they were doing as good a job as they could up to that point. There is clearly plenty of scope across the sector. It is very positive. In 2014, we are looking at undertaking 30 on-farm assessments with volunteer farms. These are clustered around farm discussion groups operated by the IFA. This is about diffusion of skills through discussion groups and regional seminars. We do not need to work hard to find candidate farmers as they are queuing up to get involved. There is high interest and uptake.
The benefits for farmers are financial. It is clear income and revenue. The initiative also underpins and supports the ambitions of Food Harvest 2020 and Origin Green with low resource input production and sustainable farming enterprises. It benefits our overall economy and environment and reduces inventories.

This will again lead in to some of Dr. Schulte's comments.

The final slide states that smart farming fits into a sustainable consumption and production cycle. It is part of an overall national cycle that we have. It is an essential part of primary production but it does not exist on its own. It cannot solve the whole problem of delivering a sustainable consumption and production in society.