Written answers

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Environmental Schemes

Photo of Martin BrowneMartin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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2027. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the importance of new grass in acting as an emissions sink; if progress is being made in providing financial support in reseeding; his views on the level of support per acre that would be appropriate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15615/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department recognises the important role that sustainable grassland production plays in our livestock agricultural systems and in particular as an emission sink in our fight against climate change.

Improved grassland management practices potentially lead to greater sequestration levels. It is important to note that non-inversion methods of reseeding to minimise GHG losses is the preferred method of establishing new grass swards. On-going research being conducted through Teagasc shows that multi species swards (including the incorporation of clover) offer opportunities for farmers to reduce their reliance on chemical fertilisers and increase GHG sequestration levels on agricultural grasslands.

In recognition of the importance of improved grassland management practices to increase the grassland carbon sink a number of actions have been included in Ag-Climatise - ARoadmap Towards Climate Neutrality,which sets out a vision for the primary agrifood sector to become climate neutral by 2050. This roadmap highlights the importance of grass measurement, participation by farmers in the Grass 10 programme and also the development of national training and mentoring programs for grassland/pasture management on Irish farms.

While there are currently no plans to financially support farmers to reseed grasslands, there are a number of measures in place to reward farmers for the particular management of permanent grassland. The current agri-environment scheme GLAS (Green, Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme) includes two actions which specifically support permanent pasture which is managed to promote a more diverse sward. Under the Low Input Permanent Pasture (LIPP) and Traditional Hay Meadow (THM) actions, there are over 310,000 ha of agricultural grasslands being retained and actively managed as a carbon sink.

As part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan development, a number of options are being considered to further protect and increase the agricultural grassland carbon sink with the potential to financially reward farmers for their activities in this area.

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