Presentation to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine Dr Helen Sheridan Dr Paul Murphy School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin 1

Challenges facing Agriculture FH2020 (national roadmap) Convention on Biodiversity 1992 Birds Directive (79/409/EEC as amended 2009/43/EC) Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) EIA Directive (85/337/EEC) Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) Agri-Environment Regulation (2078/92/EEC) EU 2020 Greenhouse gas targets

Agri-Baseline – Summary of Farm Habitat Incidence 3

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Hennessy et al. (2013) Dependence of Irish Farmers on Direct Payments 5

Grassland Field Margins 2001 Walsh Fellowship funding – PhD student – Reintroduce botanical diversity – Management measures to facilitate persistence Treatments – Fencing – Rotavation and natural regeneration – Reseeding with a grass and wild flower mix Width and grazing 2006 Research Stimulus funding - PhD student 2012 Walsh Fellowship Funding – MSc student

Grassland Field Margin Botanical Results Sheridan et al. (2008) Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 123, Sheridan et al. (2009) Biology and Environment, 109B, 2, Sheridan et al. (2009) Ecology, Management and Restoration. Nova publishers, USA. Fritch, Sheridan et al. (2011) Journal of Applied Ecology, 48, Anderson, McCormack, Helden, Sheridan, Kinsella, Purvis (2011). Journal of Applied Ecology, 48,

Finn, et al. (2013)

143 kg N/ha Mihailescu E, Murphy PNC, Ryan W, Casey IA & Humphreys J Nitrogen balance and use efficiency on twenty-one intensive grass-based dairy farms in the South of Ireland. The Journal of Agricultural Science. doi: /S

N Surplus (kg N/ha) Milk Production (l/ha) 0 5,000 10,000 15,00020,000 25,000 Management Buckley C, Murphy PNC & Wall D. Farm-gate N and P balances and use efficiencies across specialist dairy farms in the Republic Ireland. Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme, Working Paper 13-WP-RE-02 Farm A Farm B 11

Melland AR, Mellander P-E, Murphy PNC, Wall DP, Mechan S, Shine O, Shortle G & Jordan P Stream water quality in intensive cereal cropping catchments with regulated nutrient management. Environmental Science and Policy 24, Arable A Arable B P loss in stream (kg/ha/yr) Well drained soil Poorly drained soil Catchment area (%) Soil P Index 12

FH2020, GHGs and Water Quality FH2020 targets and GHG/Water Quality targets can be achieved, in principle Management is key- Better Management Practices (BMPs) Land use and land and nutrient management Management determines fate of nutrients- taken up in crop/animal or lost to the environment Policies need to encourage BMPs NAP / Nitrates Regulations Integrated Catchment/Landscape Management Advisory, Education, Knowledge Transfer Better Farms, Discussion Groups, SmartFarms Need to be able to get credit for improvements- inventories and product labelling Emission estimates based on simple measures of intensity can be misleading One size does not fit all 13