I recognise the importance of sustainable soil management practices on Irish farms and how they will help us to deliver on the environmental objectives of the EU Green Deal and on our own agri-food strategy Food Vision 2030.
It has to be acknowledged that soil drainage poses particular challenges in Ireland. There is a great variety of soils and soil problems which means that every drainage challenge on soils is unique. The reduced management intensity of drained organic soils is an entirely new area of work with much uncertainty and complexity, which Ireland will need to pioneer an approach to. The uncertainty is caused by data gaps in respect to the location of organic soils, the nature of land management and intensity, the drainage location and status and the level of GHG emissions emitted from these soils in varying states of wetness and management.
I have targeted investment in projects to deal with this uncertainty, with the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory seeking to provide a more accurate picture of soil emissions and removals; the RePeat project to provide greater resolution peat soil maps; and two European Innovation Projects, FarmPeat and FarmCarbon, who are working with farmers at farm level to develop innovative solutions, with learnings already been brought across into the ACRES scheme.
I have also provided significant funding for a Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme. This programme provides valuable information to farmers to inform decisions that promote the health of their soils and is aimed at putting soil health, soil fertility and soil carbon at the very centre of our future agricultural model. Approval letters for the second phase of this programme issued to 7,000 farmers last week.
