The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr Charlie McConalogue T.D., today launched a major investment of €10 million in a pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme. This substantial programme is aimed at putting soil carbon, soil health and fertility at the very centre of our future agricultural model.
Minister McConalogue said, “Our farmers know that a healthy soil is the basis for all farming be it livestock, tillage or horticulture. Detailed knowledge about soils on our farms will increase economic and environmental sustainability” adding “I am pleased to announce my Department’s support for the Pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme to establish national baseline information on soils across Irish farms.”
Minister McConalogue highlighted that, “In addition to soil fertility and soil pathogen assessment, the programme will measure baseline soil carbon levels which will guide future actions to support carbon farming. It will also provide the basis for the next generation of soil-specific nutrient management advice and underpin targeted fertiliser and organic manure applications (right nutrient type, right application rate, right time & right place) across all farming systems in Ireland.”
Our soils will play and important role in meeting our water, air, climate and biodiversity targets of both the CAP and Green Deal. This sampling programme will provide the farmer with the critical information to make farm management decisions from improving nutrient use efficiency to soil carbon levels in our soils. Advisors will be up-skilled to assist farmers in translating the results of the programme into meaningful guidance for farmers. In this way, the pilot programme will realise the potential of managing soils on Irish farms.
Minister McConalogue emphasised that “Soil health and nutrient management are high on my Departments priorities and feature strongly in commitments of the Programme for Government therefore this pilot programme is an important first step in delivering on these. It is also in line with my Department’s Action Plan 2021.”
Minister Pippa Hackett with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity also welcomed the pilot programme and stated, “Soil health is vital for our very existence, and the more we know about it, the better informed we are to make the decisions necessary to preserve and regenerate it. I’m delighted that my Department has initiated this programme which will increase farmers’ knowledge and awareness of their soils, and will enable them to take more targeted land management responses at farm level, and at the same time gather important baseline data. I am really looking forward to seeing the results, and how we can further develop the sampling programme to examine other aspects of soil health, such as soil biology, in the future.”
Minister Martin Heydon who has responsibility for Research and Development added, “This investment builds on our recent investment of €2 million in a National Soil carbon observatory, a significant research project to better understand carbon in our soils. These investments build our capacity to deliver an important climate contribution from the sector in the years ahead and I would encourage all farmers to avail of this initiative and work with their advisors to tailor their management practices in light of the important information these samples will deliver.”
Note for Editors:
Target Audience
How does this benefit farmers?
Incentive for farmer
The incentive for the farmer is to receive comprehensive soil analysis reports with next generation data which, with advisory support will be used as a soil management tool on the farm. The farmer does not receive a monetary payment however the soil sampling programme, at field scale, will provide the basis for the next generation of soil-specific nutrient management advice and underpin targeted fertiliser and organic manure applications (right nutrient type, right application rate, right time & right place) across all farming systems in Ireland.
Additionally, the outputs of the programme will identify the stock of carbon at a farm level, thus providing the opportunity for protection and enhancement into the future.
Understanding the linkage of animal health and soil health especially with the focus on soil pathogen assessment provides farmers with the information to adapt strategies to minimise anti-microbial resistance (AMR).
Policy Makers
The programme will gather baseline soil information to inform better policy development, implementation and monitoring and as a basis for enhanced farm level nutrient and environmental sustainability advice. The soil parameters will assist with targeting management practices /measures and advice to support national and EU policy such as Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), Climate Action Plan, Farm-to-Fork, Water Framework & Nitrates Directives, and the Biodiversity Strategy and the new EU R&I, Soil Health and Food Mission.
Policy Objective
This programme will assist in the integration of environmental policies and objectives across water, soil, air and climate change and their alignment with the overall objectives of policy such as the Green Deal and the new agri-food strategy. Having baseline data on the physical, chemical, and biological status of our soils at farm level is critical for both farmers and policy makers. The purpose of this programme therefore is to develop a baseline national data set at farm level for these parameters:
- Macro- and micronutrients for agronomic advice and water quality risk assessment.
- Soil carbon(C) relating primarily improving climate objectives and soil health.
- Soil pathogen assessment as a biosecurity measure for policy guidance.
Critically the programme will target a spread of samples both regionally and by enterprise to generate as wide a baseline as possible. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will publish a tender shortly for interested parties to express interest in delivering the programme.
How will the programme operate?
The Pilot Programme is proposed to be tendered externally for delivery by a laboratory and/or consortium of laboratories through the formal EU Procurement (e-tenders) protocol. DAFM will administer the application process and Rank and Selection requirements for the programme through the online AgFood.ie resource.
From an operational perspective, it is planned a successful tenderer will be in place by mid-July 2021, with the soil sampling commencing from September 2021.
Capping
There is a limit on the number of samples that can be taken per participating farm of 16 samples, the equivalent of 64 ha. This limit is in place to ensure maximum uptake in terms of geographic region and farming system across the country.
The Department’s Statement of Strategy (2021 – 2024) and Action Plan 2021 can be viewed on the Department’s website at the following address: www.gov.ie/en/publication/a9d51-statement-of-strategy-2021-2024/
ENDS