Irish agriculture has been a staple of the country’s culture, economy, and identity. From the birth of farming to the crop expansion, the Great Famine to the Celtic Tiger, and the rise of modern agriculture, there have been many ups and downs in Ireland’s agricultural industry throughout its centuries of existence. However, the future of Irish agriculture looks to be bright and filled with technological advancements and updated methods. Research and equipment advancements are lending themself to modernizing and preparing to become more environmentally friendly as the world moves towards more sustainable practices, and new equipment will cut costs for working families across Ireland.

Ireland’s current agricultural sector has been bustling in recent years. According to Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the agricultural work sector employs roughly 173,000 people in Ireland, making up 7.7% of the total national employment, and contributed about €13.7 billion to the national export economy in 2018. A large factor in these increases in profit and employment was the introduction of state of the art equipment. Four and two-wheeled tractors are the most commonly used farm equipment in Ireland, and backhoes, loaders, cultivators, cultipackers, threshers, and rollers have also been introduced en mass within the past 15 years.

The main goal of farms and agricultural companies moving into the future will be sustainability. For example, one feed and nutrition company, Alltech Ireland, is working with local animal crop farmers wanting to help reduce their farm’s personal carbon footprint by checking on several focal points in order to increase and improve the efficiency of each individual farm. These focal points include assessing the farm, assessing rumen health, feed values, and forage quality. Since the majority of CO2 emissions come from the methane from a cow’s rumen, assessing the rumen’s health and the nutritional value of the cows’ feed is essential to beef and dairy farms across Ireland. This is a sentiment shared by a majority of the country’s agricultural workers. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Ireland became the first country to commit to third party-verified, 100% sustainable food exports in 2012. Since then, Irish farms have managed to reduce biodiversity loss, improve animal welfare, and increase the amount of land farmed organically.

 

Sources:
Donnellan, Trevor, et al. Future Scenarios for Irish Agriculture: Implications for Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions. 2018.
“Ireland and the Future of Sustainability | Magazine Articles | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, 2015, www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/summer-2015/articles/ireland-and-the-future-of-sustainability.
“New Farming Equipment Has Arrived in Ireland.” Www.irishfarming.ie, www.irishfarming.ie/farm-machinery/#:~:text=New%20Farming%20Equipment%20in%20Ireland%201%20Tractor%20Tractors. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Team, Agriland. “A Practical Approach to Sustainable Irish Farming.” Agriland.ie, 8 Dec. 2020, www.agriland.ie/farming-news/a-practical-approach-to-sustainable-irish-farming/#:~:text=A%20practical%20approach%20to%20sustainable%20Irish%20farming%201. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
The Future of Irish Farming: Ag Science Student on Why Agriculture Can Be Part of the Climate Change Solution – Extra.ie. 1 June 2020, extra.ie/2020/06/01/news/real-life/future-irish-farming-climate-chane#:~:text=Irish%20agriculture%20is%20developing%20to%20focus%20on%20what. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.

 

Since the beginning of Irish civilization, agriculture has been a staple of the nation’s economy, culture, and history of the nation. While it has had its ups and downs, most recently with The Celtic Tiger and Brexit, Irish agriculture is on the up, and many changes and updates have been made to this staple Irish industry. As it has been for centuries, Ireland exports the majority of its products, with 175 countries around the world enjoying Irish food and drink exports. Right now, Ireland is thriving on the global stage and is now looking to turn their eye to sustainability. 

As stated earlier, Irish agriculture is comprised mostly of family-owned farms, almost 140,000 of them.  Most of these farms are pasture-based, and the current market is dominated by dairy and livestock, particularly beef. Dairy and beef account for two-thirds of Ireland’s gross agricultural output and Ireland is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing dairy producers and exporters. According to Sustainable Food Systems in Ireland, in 2018 Ireland produced over 10% of Global Infant Formula, was the largest net exporter of Beef in the Northern Hemisphere Irish agri-food exports was valued at €13.6 billion, a 64% increase since 2010, and employed over 173,000 people, 7.6% of the total working population. In addition, cheese exports were worth €800 million, meat and livestock exports were €3.97 billion, and beverages exports were €1.5 billion, with Irish Whiskey accounting for 42% of beverages exports. However, as the Irish dairy industry grows, more and more farmers filter out of Irish wheat production. Tillage farming has declined significantly over the last 40 years, with the amount of tillage farmland falling by 15% in the last ten years and by 42% since 1980. Only about 8% of farmland remains under tillage. Even then, almost half of what is produced by tillage farms is feed cereals for livestock. The rest is largely made up of oats, rapeseed, potatoes, malting barley, and straw.

Ireland is also focusing on sustainability. Ireland is the first country in the world to implement a national sustainability program for agriculture and food called “Origin Green”. “Origin Green” is meant to unite the Irish government, producers, and the private sector in order to make Ireland’s food and drink sector more sustainable. Another strategy, dubbed “Farm to Fork”, was announced in May 2020 and outlines how agriculture across Europe will help to become more sustainable by 2030. The Farm to Fork strategy aims to reduce the usage of pesticides and antimicrobials, reduce biodiversity loss, improve animal welfare, increase the land farmed organically in the EU agricultural land area, and reduce fertilizer usage by 20%. 

 

Sources:

Agriculture & Food in Ireland –. www.sfsi.ie/agriculture-food-ireland/#:~:text=Irish%20agriculture%20is%20dominated%20by%20family-owned%20farms.%20There.

Dowling, Conor. “2020 – Sustainability in Irish Agriculture – Teagasc | Agriculture and Food Development Authority.” Www.teagasc.ie, 24 July 2020, www.teagasc.ie/publications/2020/sustainability-in-irish-agriculture.php.

Dunlop, Steven. “The Story of the Irish Grain Farming Industry and the Need for Change.” Good Food Ireland, 25 Aug. 2021, goodfoodireland.ie/magazine/the-road-less-travelled-grain-farming/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2023.

Magan, Manchán. “Our Daily Bread: Ireland’s Grain Growers and Millers.” The Irish Times, www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/our-daily-bread-ireland-s-grain-growers-and-millers-1.3612824.