Farmers advised to prepare for severe swings in weather

Irish farmers must brace themselves for extreme fluctuations in weather patterns, ranging from excessive rainfall and drought to intensified heatwaves, as climate change introduces new challenges to farming and food production, according to the Climate Change Advisory Council. The Council advises farmers to receive enhanced support, detailed climate risk information tailored to their specific farms, along with practical guidance and financial assistance to adapt.

The Council is urging the Department of Agriculture to create a new climate-risk tool within a year, which would provide personalized data to farmers. However, Ireland is lagging behind in its goals for cutting agricultural emissions, forestation, and developing a domestic biomethane industry. The Council contends that farmers constantly adapt to different climate-related challenges across seasons, such as heavy rainfall hampering livestock grazing and increasing reliance on stored fodder, while drought and high temperatures diminish grass and crop growth, lower fodder reserves, and affect animal welfare.

Chairperson Alex White asserts that these weather crises cannot be treated independently. In response, the Council proposes practical support to bolster farm resilience, adapt current practices, or shift towards diversification, including forestry, carbon farming, and renewable energy. The report also highlights Ireland's heavy reliance on imported fruits and vegetables, which leaves the supply vulnerable to extreme weather conditions and crop failures abroad.

Moreover, the declining number of Irish horticultural producers further exacerbates this vulnerability, prompting the Council to recommend government intervention to foster domestic horticultural production and enhance food security. Nonetheless, progress in reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions has been sluggish, with emissions decreasing by only 0.2% in the past year, falling short of the government's goal to reduce emissions by 10% by 2025.

Implementing all proposed climate measures could cut emissions by approximately 19% by 2030, but this still falls short of the required 25% reduction. The Council encourages the Department of Agriculture to formulate a properly funded and time-bound implementation plan for rapid agricultural emission reduction measures. Additionally, the forestry sector faces significant hurdles, with only 2,527 hectares of new forest planted in the last year, falling short of the annual target of 8,000 hectares.

This lag in forestation prevents Ireland from attaining its objective of increasing forest cover to 18% by mid-century. The Council calls for improvements in the financial, administrative, and practical aspects of planting forests to address these challenges. Lastly, Ireland's biomethane industry development is painfully slow, with only 39.3 gigawatt hours of domestically produced biomethane injected into the national gas grid from 2022 to 2024, representing merely 0.7% of the government's target of 5.7 terawatt hours by 2030.

Delays in the Renewable Heat Obligation have hindered the market certainty required for biomethane investment, which could contribute to energy security, emissions reduction, and farm income diversification.