Ammonia emissions cut will cost agri sector €35m Discounted target of 5pc will hit farmers

NEW measures to significantly cut ammonia emissions from Irish farms by 2030 will cost the agriculture sector over €35m annually.

Ireland could face severe EU fines if the country fails to meet the stringent limits.

Under the new targets agreed in Brussels recently Ireland must reduce its ammonia (NH3) discharges from agriculture by 5pc over the next 14 years.

A cut of 10pc had been sought by the Commission but Teagasc successfully argued that reductions of this magnitude were not possible.

However, major changes to management practices on farms will be required to meet the ambitious limits, including moving away from key fertilisers such as urea, and greater use of the trailing shoe and trailing hose when spreading slurry.

The new targets were set under the EU National Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive which was reviewed as part of the EU Commission’s ‘Clean Air Policy’.

The latest measures replace the current EU regime on the annual capping of emissions of air pollutants such as SO2, NOx, NMVOC and NH3 by establishing binding national emission reduction commitments applicable from 2020 and 2030 for these gasses.

Ammonia (NH3) is the main problem gas from a farming perspective, with emissions primarily coming from slurry stores and the use of artificial fertilisers such as urea.

The most effective strategies for significantly reducing ammonia discharges include extending the percentage of time animals spend grazing, and using sealed slurry stores.

But Teagasc successfully argued that these opportunities for mitigation were limited in the Irish context because extended grazing was already a central feature of Irish livestock management practice.

installing sealed slurry storage units was not a viable option given the huge investments made by farmers here during the farm waste management scheme.

Eepansion

With the severity of the emissions cuts facing Irish farmers, Gary Lanigan of Teagasc said meeting the new targets will be challenging for the sector – particularly against the backdrop of dairy expansion.

Among the measures being promoted to meet the lower emissions limits will be a switch from traditional urea to a stabilised or NBPT urea.

This inhibits and reduces ammonia loss to the atmosphere from the fertiliser.

Experts estimate that the trailing shoe and trailing hose mechanism will be required for all the slurry spread by contractors if Ireland is to meet the targets.

Teagasc research has shown that ammonia emissions during slurry spreading can be reduced by up to 30pc by switching from using a splash plate to the trailing shoe.

Efforts to promote the use of the trailing shoe and hose will be targeted mainly, though not exclusively, at contractors since they spread close to 50pc of the country’s slurry.

Use of the trailing shoe is already funded under TAMS and extending the scheme to cover contractors is a possible option, sources said.

In addition, farmers and contractors will be encouraged to spread more slurry during the wet and cloudy spring weather – again to reduce ammonia loss to the atmosphere. How this might be promoted or enforced is not clear.

The final measure involves reducing crude protein content of pig and poultry diets.

The full cost of these mitigation measures is put at €35.6m a year.