Sustainability of ruminant livestock production in Ireland

Abstract

Agriculture in Ireland is dominated by grass-based ruminant livestock production. Stocking rates are low to moderate on most farms and highest on dairy farms. Maximizing the use of grazed grass is a central feature of the systems, and emphasis is placed on breeding animals suited to grass-based systems, especially for dairying. These characteristics confer some environmental advantages in terms of good crop and livestock circularity and manure recycling, low food vs. feed competition, high soil organic matter and carbon sequestration potential, contribution to biodiversity, and low GHG intensity of milk and meat. Nevertheless, there are also significant challenges in terms of absolute GHG and ammonia emissions, water quality, and biodiversity. Milk and meat produced in Ireland have GHG emissions intensity per kilogram of milk and meat that are among the lowest in the world, but international agreements to reduce absolute emissions mean that Irish livestock systems are under pressure to reduce production to comply. Ireland has good water quality by international standards, but progress toward required standards has stalled in recent years. Biodiversity is an issue, particularly on some intensively stocked farms. So, while Irish livestock production systems have many positive fundamental attributes, continued evolution and improvements are necessary over the coming years to decrease environmental impact and meet environmental regulations. Some technologies and system adaptations have been identified that will improve performance, and the challenge for knowledge transfer systems is to achieve widespread adoption of these. Research is underway to identify new technologies and pathways for further improvements in environmental performance. It is a significant challenge for research, knowledge transfer, farmers and the agri-food industry to find and deploy these solutions at a pace, scale and location sufficient to meet the timeframe of environmental targets.