EPA - Ireland's Environment 2016 - An Assessment

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197 Chapter 12: Environment and Agriculture
What’s Being Done
The pressures that agriculture places on the
environment are well known and a variety of actions
have been implemented at EU level, national policy
level and locally to address them.
These actions include Common Agriculture Policy reform;
national implementation of the Nitrates Directive;
sustainability initiatives including Origin Green; regulatory
actions; and research and innovation in both productivity
improvements and environmental management.
Common Agricultural Policy
The reform of the “Common Agricultural Policy”
provides the opportunity for a move towards better
targeting of action in the right places to address the
environmental pressures involved.
The reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy introduced
in 2015 include direct greening payments, accounting for
around 30% of each farmer’s single farm payment, for
implementing obligatory measures such as maintenance
of permanent grassland, ecological focus areas and crop
diversification. These reforms reflect an awareness of
the risks of unintended adverse environmental impact
of previous CAP structures. There is also evidence that
previous structures of the CAP encouraged intensification
of agricultural production systems across Europe including
Ireland, and the consolidation of land parcels and removal
of hedgerows (Brouwer et al., 2002). The reforms of CAP
further develop Cross Compliance requirements making
it necessary for lands to be eligible for direct payment to
be maintained in Good Agricultural and Environmental
Condition (DAFM, 2015). However, other reforms in CAP,
such as removal of milk quotas, may have long term
environmental impacts if the market becomes a more direct
driver of farming activities. There is also a 20% allocation
of Pillar II’s Rural Development Programme’s budget for
voluntary cross cutting climate change measures under the
new GLAS scheme.11 Actions such as the Beef Data and
Genomics Programme and GLAS under Pillar II are intended
to focus on meaningful actions at a regional and local level.
GLAS has targeted farmers in areas with high water quality
for admission to the scheme indicating a welcome move
towards targeting of actions to protect that element of the
environment. The continuation of the Targeted Agricultural
Modernisation Scheme, which provides funding for
upgrade of farm facilities, may also provide benefit to the
environment. It is important that incentives under Pillar I and
Pillar II are consistent and complementary, for example HNV
farms should not be seen to be at risk of losing eligibility
status. The role of Farm Advisory Services in promotion of
appropriate management is critical in this respect.
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Nitrates Action Programme
Good agricultural practices for the protection of
waters.
The Nitrates Directive (1991) aims to protect water
quality by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources
polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting
the use of good farming practices. It forms an integral
part of the Water Framework Directive and is one of
the key instruments in the protection of waters against
agricultural pressures.
The Nitrates Action Programme is required under the
EU Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC). Ireland has taken a
national approach defining the nutrient sensitive area
for water protection under the directive as the whole
national territory meaning that it applies its programme
nationally thereby providing a level of water protection
across the country. Importantly Ireland has also used
its national implementation of the Directive to control
phosphorus, which is the key driver of freshwater
eutrophication, as well as nitrogen. Under the programme
there is a closed period when land spreading of slurries
is prohibited, minimum storage requirements are set
for various geographic zones nationally, legal limits are
established for nitrogen and phosphorus use and other
measures to protect waters from nutrient enrichment, e.g.
nutrient management planning. In addition, the Teagasc
Agricultural Catchments Programme was established
with funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food
and the Marine with the twin aims of protecting and
improving water quality and supporting the production of
high-quality food including evaluating the environmental
and economic effects of the Nitrates Action Programme
measures. Ireland has derogation from the livestock
manure application limits on land spreading in the
Directive and is obliged to monitor the impact of the
Nitrates Action Programme and this derogation on water
quality on an ongoing basis. This monitoring information
will form part of the body of evidence that will also be
used to track the impacts, both positive and negative, of
the implementation of the Food Wise strategy.
Origin Green
National sustainability programme for farmers and
processors.
Bord Bia’s Origin Green Programme12 was launched in
2012 as the national sustainability programme for the
Irish food and drink industry. It provides sustainability
programmes on a national scale for Ireland’s farmers and
food producers with a vision for Ireland having the lowest
environmental footprint in Europe. Origin Green sets out a
defined structure to demonstrate sustainable performance
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