Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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66. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the process through which the carbon or methane footprint of Irish farms is calculated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53054/22]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Will the Minister outline the process through which the carbon or methane footprint of Irish farms is or will be calculated? Farmers are under severe pressure and are worried about how all these carbon emissions will be charged to their business. It is important that we set out how it is to be done and what baselines we will put in place.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The compilation of the agricultural greenhouse gas inventory is a matter for the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. As part of this process, the EPA determines the total amount of methane, N₂O and CO₂emissions generated by the aggregation of all farms. The EPA takes activity data, for example, total animal numbers by category or fertiliser sales data and applies an emissions factor to determine total emissions. Carbon measurement at farm level will become ever more important in the context of the recently agreed sectoral emissions ceilings of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for agriculture and as a mechanism to demonstrate environmental ambition at farm level.

Through the Bord Bia sustainable beef and lamb assurance scheme, SBLAS, and the sustainably dairy assurance scheme, SDAS, introduced in 2014, we have a solid foundation on which to build. To date, more than 300,000 carbon footprint calculations have been completed. The Bord Bia quality assurance audit process for beef and dairy farmers facilitates the collection of the relevant farm management data required to complete a carbon footprint calculation via the sustainability survey.

The Department’s animal inventory and movements, AIM, data is utilised to generate an inventory of all animals on a farm for each month of a production year. Weight gain per animal is derived from a herd’s average daily live weight gain, DLWG, figure which is provided by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, to Bord Bia. Both models generate a result by tracking all the greenhouses gases emitted as a result of the farm practices required to produce 1 kg of output, that is, "1 kg of fat and protein corrected milk" or 1 kg live weight gain.

These emissions can be categorised into emissions from: the digestion of feed; manure management; fertiliser use; concentrate feeding; and electricity and machinery use. The emissions are summed up across the beef or dairy production system and divided by the output to generate the carbon footprint.

The carbon footprint results are then communicated to members of the schemes via the farmer feedback report. To date, more than 5,000 farmer feedback reports have been generated and dispatched to SBLAS and SDAS members.

Since 2020, Bord Bia has collaborated closely with Teagasc and ICBF to improve the data collection, methodologies and accuracy of the beef and dairy models.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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One issue that farmers are concerned about is that they are not getting any credit for the carbon they sequester through pasture, crops and hedgerows. There is also a need to establish a carbon measuring, reporting and verification process which farmers need to work with. It is in place in Northern Ireland.

Farmers wonder how the baselines are being set out and how they will be supported in putting in place measures to help reduce the carbon footprint. Things seem vague at present. Farmers are examining the various processes in place. There are pilot schemes and so on. In Northern Ireland, the ground on every farm is tested to a depth of 30 cm. Here, only one in every 20 units is tested, to a depth of only 10 cm. Therefore, we are behind the curve and not being fair to our farmers. Perhaps the Minister will comment on that.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I would not agree. I outlined in my initial response the activity that has been ongoing for a significant period, or since 2014, regarding carbon assessments, on-farm navigators that have been developed and carbon-footprint calculations that have been done in this regard. I agree with the Deputy that it will be really important for farmers to have an income stream from the sequestration of carbon.

The EU is developing the platform on which carbon trading will work. It will be important to be able to step that out at national level. It will be key to have farmers benefit from that. Teagasc is doing a lot of research on how we can measure carbon capture and sequestration. The accurate measurement of sequestration so it can be monetised is one of the challenges. However, there is a lot of potential. It is something we have to continue to step out.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his comments. This is a case of us chasing something very fast without having the research and knowledge base built up concerning how we will measure what farmers sequester through their daily practices and with hedgerows, etc. There have been many pilot schemes and a lot of research has been done but, as the Minister said, we do not yet have the science to show farmers will be rewarded for the good work they already do. The problem is that we have put the cart way before the horse in that we are trying to penalise people for carbon emissions without having a proper method of measuring what they are contributing. If we are to maintain confidence in farming and what is happening with carbon emissions, it is important to get the science right before making further decisions.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The research, science and measurement tools will be really important. We are doing a lot of work in that regard. Other member states and other countries across the world are putting a lot of effort into this also. Getting the measuring tools right and accurate represents an important starting point. The infrastructure that needs to be put in place to allow for carbon to be traded and monetised will be important.

There is a lot of potential, as we are very much aware. We are investing in the research that will allow what I talk about to come to fruition, reach its potential and, importantly, ensure an additional income stream for farmers.