Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2021
64. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he envisages new mechanisms to reward farmers for new measures to sequester carbon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60639/21]
View answerUnder the EU Commission’s proposals for a new Common Agricultural Policy, there are options to provide support for environmental action on farms, including measures which seek to protect existing carbon pools while also increasing on-farm sequestration rates mainly through our soils and woody biomass. These options are currently being developed under the CAP Strategic Plan in consultation with all relevant stakeholders including farmers and land managers.
One route currently being examined under the CAP Strategic Plan is through the establishment of an eco-schemes incentive that would make up a proportion of Pillar I direct payments conditional on additional environmental action. Additional environmental action will also be encouraged through voluntary participation in results-based schemes established in Pillar II Rural Development Programme Schemes.
The potential to reward farmers for their carbon sequestration activities is also recognised under the recently updated All-of-Government Climate Action Plan 2021 which commits government to, “explore the development of a carbon farming model”. Officials within my Department are currently exploring how an enabling framework for carbon farming can be developed and although this work is at an early stage the potential rewards for farmers, and society in general, are clear.
To help establish the required baseline data required for a carbon sequestration reward model, I have provided funding through my Department, for initiatives such as the establishment of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, the Pilot Soil Sampling Programme and the Farm Environmental Scheme along with a number of European Innovation Partnership (EIP) research projects based on peatsoils, to provide the required data for the development of future policy options in this area.
My Department already supports sequestration through afforestation including agroforestry, in a variety of configurations. An example of a positive development to date in this area is my Department’s ‘Woodland Environmental Fund’ where private businesses can part-fund the establishment of native woodlands on farms.
National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory
The “National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory” will comprise up to 10 “Flux Towers” across a range of soil types at a cost of ~€2M. These sites will be established on a range of soils adding value to existing Teagasc projects including; the industry co-funded SignPost farms and the Agricultural Catchments Programme. The resulting “National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory” will place Ireland at the forefront of EU carbon sequestration research.
The purchasing of “Flux Towers” will allow the establishment of the “National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory” which will enable Ireland to:
- Better quantify soil carbon emissions and sinks from agricultural land,
- Enable mitigation measures to increase carbon sequestration to be included in the national inventory,
- Participate in the EU ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) network
- Enable Ireland to benefit from the 2018 EU Effort Sharing Regulation.
Pilot Soil Sampling Programme
- 10 million pilot Programme co-funded by the EU and national exchequer
- Opened for applications on the morning of the 17th of September 2021.
- No monetary payment to participants but they will benefit from better management decision making as a result of soil analysis report provided.
- Aims to establish a comprehensive national baseline on the Soil Organic Matter, nutrient and soil pathogen (E-coli) status of our soils across all farming systems and geographic areas.
- Aims to aid understanding of the linkages between animal health and soil health with a focus on soil pathogen assessment which will provide farmers with information to adapt strategies to minimise anti-microbial resistance (AMR).
Farm Environmental Study
- The Farm Environment Survey is targeted at bridging the knowledge gap of what habitats are present at farm level in Ireland. This knowledge transfer will help farmers, with support from their Advisors, to inform their management practices with Biodiversity and the environment in mind, along with yielding higher quality outputs.
- The Pilot Stage of FES will focus on the development of methodology and the up-skilling of farmers and advisors in the roll out of farm level habitat surveys on approximately 8000 farms.
- The Pilot FES programme will provide the farmer with an inventory of habitats, biodiversity and environmental information about his/her own farm
Woodland Environmental Fund
- The objective of the Woodland Environmental Fund (WEF) is to facilitate the planting of more native woodlands within Ireland by providing an access point for businesses to part fund the establishment of these forests.
- Businesses are invited to partner with Government and private landowners in creating these diverse woodland habitats.
- WEF funding is a once off single payment of €1,000/hectare, paid by the business to the landowner. The payment is made once the forest is established and has been approved by the Department
Agroforestry
- The Agroforestry option of the Afforestation Scheme provides financial support to grow trees on land being used for farming. The system gives land-owners the flexibility to graze and even cut silage and hay while growing trees for timber in the same field.
- Agroforestry can involve pasture, grazing, silage and hay. Other systems may be considered on a site-to-site basis as long as the tree stocking rate is between 400-1000 trees per hectare, it is at least 0.5 of a hectare and at least 20 meters wide.
- Benefits of agro-forestry include an enhancement to landscapes, improves biodiversity and landscape, prevents nutrient runoff and reduces sedimentation of nearby water courses, provides renewable energy, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels while also improving land drainage.
