We are on the cusp of a transition in farming from largely production-focused systems, increasing in intensity each year, to systems with a greater focus on the environmental sustainability and quality of the food, fibre and wood produced.
The quality of agri-food products now includes dimensions such as the greenhouse gas emissions; water quality and biodiversity profiles of the farm.
As the sustainability of the food we eat and export is increasingly regulated and valued throughout the supply chain, farming for and with nature has entered the mainstream. Farming for nature is no longer the preserve of boutique farms in particular areas of the country.
Intensive farms are embracing the power of natural systems to reduce input costs, increase profitability, strengthen their resilience to climate shocks, benefit from diversification and enhance personal wellbeing.
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Climate change is a disruptive force that is likely to raise the volatility of both input costs and commodity prices as geopolitical instability increases. In Ireland, increasingly wet winters and drier summers that put the squeeze on livestock systems in all four seasons are forecast.
Cattle spend longer indoors in the winter, with greater need for imported concentrated feed or silage, while hotter, drier summers limit grass growth for silage production.
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments for farms are a critically important support, particularly in years when commodity prices are low, input prices are high and production is limited by adverse weather conditions.
In 2023, which was a particularly challenging year for farm profitability, grants and subsidies to farmers represented 99 per cent of the average family farm income. Direct payments to farmers are far less volatile than the commodity prices of the food they produce and the costs of inputs such as fertilisers.
As we see an increasing orientation of CAP funding towards sustainability and nature-friendly processes, farming with nature can secure reliable funding for farm enterprises in an increasingly unreliable global marketplace.
A timely publication, the expertly written and beautifully illustrated Farming for Nature Handbook by Emma Hart, Brigid Barry and Brendan Dunford, provides excellent support for farmers who are seeking to both maintain a good quality of life and a viable and profitable farm enterprise. The handbook shows how these goals can be achieved while protecting and restoring nature.
The handbook includes insights from 46 farmers, from lowland intensive dairy to upland peat systems, and is authored by experts in biodiversity conservation and restoration in farmed landscapes. A wide range of sound evidence for the value of different actions is presented, together with the personal experiences of farmers who have trialled these actions over decades.
It is not just for farmers. A wide range of other land owners and managers are likely to get insights into how to better manage their land for nature. Community groups will benefit from the ideas in the handbook for managing parks, bogs and semiurban areas. In addition to advice for different farming systems, tips are given on how to create habitats for bees, rethinking the management of lawns and how to manage yards and buildings for wildlife.
Every chapter starts with five top tips or actions and the advice is presented as options rather than strict prescriptions, with encouragement to trial different solutions and find a mix that works. While the advantages of working with nature are highlighted, the disadvantages are not shied away from.
For example, the move to multi-species grass pastures provides natural nitrogen capture and can reduce reliance on chemical worming medicines for stock, but the persistence of some species can be poor, requiring reseeding.
Ninety per cent of the food produced on Irish farms is exported. We need to ensure that the desire for Irish agri-food products from overseas markets does not lead to the permanent degradation of our climate, fresh water, land and coasts.
Future generations of farmers will not thank us if today’s stewards of the land do not look after soil health, water quality and wildlife. Farming with nature will ensure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of this important indigenous industry.
Prof Yvonne Buckley, co-director of the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water, Trinity College Dublin
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