Lorcan Scott (The Heritage Council) Patrick Crushell (Freshwater Pearl Mussel Project EIP (PMP) Brendan Dunford (Burren Programme (BP) Gwyn Jones (EFNCP and RBAPS Project) James Moran (GMIT and RBAPS Project) Patrick McGurn (AranLIFE Project and Caomhnú Árann EIP) Derek McLoughlin (PMP and RBAPS Project) Fergal Monaghan (Hen Harrier Project EIP (HHP) Caroline Sullivan (HHP)
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) average number of beef and dairy cattle assigned to an Electoral Division (ED) for the year 2020 alongside an age profile of the national herd.
Note: there were instances where an ED contained only a single herd and for GDPR reasons to protect the identification of the individual concerned it was decided to combine all EDs in each county where the number of herds is less than 5 into a single ED e.g. DUBLIN DED < 5 HERDS.
The figures are average figures over the previous 4 quarters to give a truer picture of the national herd. The number of cattle under each cattle classification is taken as an average across four quarterly end points during the year (31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December).
The figures used within the department come from the Animal Identification and Movement system and the beef and dairy cattle are classified as such depending on whether the breed type is a Beef or Dairy Breed.
Nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential elements for the plants. They are often used as fertilisers in agriculture to guarantee higher yields and quality products. However, the increasing demand in food production has resulted in an increased production and use of fertilisers associated with considerable inefficiencies, leading to pollution of water, air and soil, affecting human health and the environment.
At a global level, N and P surplus into the environment are already exceeding safe planetary boundaries, representing a severe threat to nature as well as to the climate 1 . Europe makes a considerable contribution to this form of pollution and the European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates that in Europe the limit for N losses is exceeded by a factor of 3.3 and the limit for P losses by a factor of 2 2 .
The Biodiversity 3 and the Farm to Fork 4 strategies set a common objective of reducing nutrient losses in the environment by at least 50% by 2030, while preserving soil fertility. Council Directive 91/676/EEC 5 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (“the Nitrates Directive”) is a key piece of legislation to achieve this target and other objectives of the EU Green Deal 6 .
The Nitrates Directive constitutes also a basic measure under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 7 , which requires all European surface waters – lakes, rivers, transitional and coastal water, and groundwater – to reach “good status” by latest 2027. Together with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) 8 , the Nitrates Directive plays a key role in improving the status of EU water bodies, as nutrient pollution is one of the main causes for failure of good status 9 , 10 . Furthermore, the Nitrates Directive is an essential instrument to prevent nutrient pollution of coastal and marine waters under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) 11 , 12 .
The Nitrates Directive requires Member States to:
–identify waters affected and at risk of being affected by nitrates pollution as well as designate as Nitrates Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) the areas draining into these waters where agriculture contributes significantly to this pollution;
–develop action programmes with measures reducing and preventing nitrates pollution, apply such programmes to NVZ or to the whole territory, and to reinforce these measures as soon as it appears that they are not sufficient to achieve the objectives of the Directive.
It also requires the Commission to inform the European Parliament and the Council every four years on the state of the implementation of the Directive based on Member States reports.
This report is accompanied by a Staff Working Document (SWD(2021) 1001) which includes maps and tables on indicators of nutrient pressures from agricultural sources, water quality and designated NVZ.
Digitalisation in agriculture and forestry through data security (AgriDISCRETE) will address multifaceted challenges related to data use, data security, data sharing and data ownership in the application of digital technologies in agricultural and forestry sectors in Ireland.
Bringing together an interdisciplinary research team comprised of data scientists, business scholars, and social/behavioural scientists, the AgriDISCRETE project ensures a holistic approach to considering both the technical and the socio-economic and ethical challenges introduced by data usage and sharing in agriculture and forestry.
Five integrated tasks will facilitate the research team to map current technological challenges, identify diverse stakeholder concerns, and develop societally-acceptable technological solutions and social responses.
The project will develop practical strategies, tools and solutions that can be used by policy-makers, researchers and innovators to ensure good data governance and responsible data sharing. Embedding a multi-actor approach, AgriDISCRETE aims to inform good data governance practices within Irish agriculture and forestry so that the benefits of digitalisation for agriculture and forestry in Ireland can be realised in a trajectory which is responsible and societally acceptable.
Implementation
AgriDISCRETE is an interdisciplinary, multi-actor project which will use mixed methods to explore opportunities and solutions for the successful, responsible and societally acceptable usage and sharing of (digital) data in agriculture and forestry. Good data governance practices will be identified by exploring technological and business model solutions whilst concurrently embedding a multi-actor approach within the project to ensure acceptability of these solutions to different stakeholder groups. This interdisciplinary approach is assured with the involvement of computer scientists, business scholars and social scientists who have a track record in employing different disciplinary perspectives to explore data governance practices within agriculture and forestry.
A multi-actor approach will be grounded in the current project through Task 1; Task 1 will engage stakeholders to identify specific social and ethical requirements for different stakeholder groups which can be considered in the design and development of Task 2 and Task 3. Task 3 will additionally make recommendations on the broader social, policy and industry responses required to embed good data governance practices alongside the introduction of new innovations and solutions emerging from Task 1 and Task 2. Task 2 will elicit requirements, develop business models, design data governance and sharing models as well as implement a proof of concept in T2.4. T2.4 outputs will be demonstrated in an operational environment through Task 3.
Key Objectives
Develop a comprehensive understanding of anticipated socio-economic and ethical impacts of increased digitalisation in agriculture and forestry in Ireland.
Identify stakeholders’ perceptions of digital data management and governance in agriculture and forestry, highlighting specific areas of socio-economic or ethical concern.
Facilitate stakeholders to participate in the co-creation of good data governance practices in agriculture and forestry in Ireland.
Identify a comprehensive set of requirements for data sharing and re-use in agriculture and forestry.
Develop a set of data-driven business models
Design and implement a set of building block models for data sharing, governance and security supporting the data-driven business models.
Demonstrate in an operational environment, the proof of concept solution to serve the data-driven business models.
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups (in the sense of Art 56 of Reg.1305/2013)
Project type
Operational group
Starting date
2018
End date
2021
The project aims to improve the economic viability of farming in the MacGillycuddy Reeks through the development of practical, achievable actions and innovative solutions to address the issues facing farmers on the Reeks.
The following objectives will be perused:
-Develop, in collaboration with landowners, innovative management interventions for the preservation, restoration and enhancement of upland habitats in a farmed, HNV landscape.
-Provide a mechanism to create a positive outreach programme and to prevent further habitat damage due to increasing recreational pressures on the Reeks through the formation of a landowner ranger system, and trail maintenance and definition works.
Activities include:
-Setting up farmer led collective farm management groups to manage the uplands in a sustainable manner.
-Establishing a landowner ranger system to manage recreational pressures impacting on the agricultural practices; habitats in the Reeks.
-Developing a Reeks mountain ewe initiative, whereby ewe lambs bred in the Reeks will produce an animal suitable for sustainable management of the habitats through extensive grazing regimes.
-Reintroducing suitable cattle breeds to manage upland peatlands; grasslands.
-Trail definition & maintenance works to manage the impact of recreational use in the Reeks; installation of sediment traps to reduce sediment input to watercourses.
Contact person: Noel Spillane
Address: South Kerry Development Partnership CLG Head Office, West Main Street, Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups (in the sense of Art 56 of Reg.1305/2013)
Project type
Operational group
Starting date
2019
End date
2023
This project aims to improve the economic sustainability of farming High Nature Value (HNV) land in Inishowen through the implementation of a range of innovative measures which also deliver on environmental sustainability by increasing biodiversity, improving water quality and combating climate change.
To achieve these goals, the project will pursue the following specific objectives:
-Provide a best practice management template to Increase farm profitability.
-Demonstrate that by adopting a whole farm approach that addresses both the economic and environmental aspects of mountain upland and improved lowland on the farm will lead better long-term outcomes.
Participating farmers will have a farm plan created using data collected from spatial mapping of their farm to:
• Integrate suitable broadleaved woodland into their improved land to best improve the hydrology of the area.
• Plant trees and hedges to provide shelter belts.
• Incorporate clover and trial alternative legumes, apply lime to build soil fertility to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers.
• Trial red clover swards for silage production.
• Create multi-purpose ponds
• Trial experimental grazing regimes with cattle, where sheep are traditionally grazed, to establish ideal conditions for optimum management and production of biodiverse upland vegetation.
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups (in the sense of Art 56 of Reg.1305/2013)
Project type
Operational group
Starting date
2019
End date
2023
The objectives of this project are to:
Manage the landscape in order to sustain a viable and vibrant livelihood for its farming community. Promote, preserve and conserve the archaeological, cultural and ecological heritage of the area. Improve water quality and biodiversity. Promote best practice in relation to carbon sequestration initiatives. Devise a system of dynamic pedestrian route-ways to provide public access to the landscape. Increase awareness and recognition amongst the general public of the significance of Rathcroghan as a farmed archaeological landscape and of the central role of its farming community in its care and conservation.
The project will actively:
Test and develop a management regime with farmers linked to the National Monument Service, State agencies and other relevant national bodies. Test and develop innovative management solutions to sustain a viable farming economy in harmony with the cultural and ecological assets of the landscape. Test, develop and implement best farming and archaeological practice to proactively monitor, manage, and enhance the cultural landscape in an environmentally-friendly way.
Make available, through engagement with key stakeholders, the archaeology expertise to the local farming community necessary to support the care and management of the cultural landscape.
Contact person: Daniel Curley
Address: c/o Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Tulsk, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, Ireland.
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups (in the sense of Art 56 of Reg.1305/2013)
Project type
Operational group
Starting date
2017
End date
2023
The project aims to sustain viable Hen Harrier (HH) Populations in an economically and socially sustainable model by recognising and valuing ecosystem services as an output from the farm. To achieve this, the project will pursue the following objectives:
Ensure the sustainable management of HNV farmland in the most important areas for HH, with an emphasis on providing habitat for HH and other wildlife that share this landscape;
Promote a stronger socio-economic outlook for upland areas;
Develop an effective model for future sustainable management of HH areas.
Foster positive relations through locally-led solutions between communities and the relevant Govt Dept.
The project activities are:
Designing and implementing a conservation programme in 6 Special Protection Areas designated for breeding Hen Harriers.
Incentivising farmers to enhance the habitat value of their designated lands.
Supporting measures that facilitate habitat enhancement.
Recognising the farmer’s role in delivering defined conservation objectives.
Carrying out annual surveys of breeding Hen Harriers to inform advisory and training services.
Working with Government Departments to minimise negative impacts arising from disturbance and habitat loss.
Co-ordinating the delivery of landscape level actions to reduce the risk to the Hen Harrier from predation and wildfire.
The Hen Harrier is a rare, ground nesting bird of prey, adapted to open moorland and marginal grassland habitats. The semi-natural habitats that the Hen Harrier depends on however have decreased in area over the last 40 years, as demographic, economic and regulatory factors have driven changes in land use. In fact, within the SPA network the breeding population of Hen Harrier has declined by 27% since 2005. The national Hen Harrier now only stands at an estimated 108 – 157 pairs.
Contact person: The Hen Harrier Project Ltd.
Address: Unit No. 2 Oran Point, Main Street, Oranmore, Co. Galway
