Signpost Advisory Programme

Teagasc’s Signpost programme is open for business throughout the country. Twenty one dedicated advisors are in place. Their sole mission is to help you to contribute to the emissions target reduction set for our industry. In this video clip hear about the steps that you can take in join and participate in the programme, how AgNav can help and listen to a farmer outline how knowing their number will help secure their farming future.

This public programme will be available to all farmers. It will build on the network of Signpost Demonstration Farms by providing enhanced advisory and training support to farmers to commit to, select and implement climate and sustainability actions that will be appropriate and impactful on their farms. Participating farmers will be given the opportunity to commit to taking action for their farms.

Contact the Signpost Climate Advisors in your region

AgNav – Know My Number – Make My Plan

A “Know My Number – Make My Plan” component of the programme, supported by AgNav the Sustainability Digital Platform, will allow farmers to see and understand their carbon emissions and sequestration profile as a baseline on which to act. A team of 21 Signpost climate advisors are here to support this programme.

AgNav support with partners AgNav is a programme that calculates the greenhouse gas emissions for a farm. It collates data from ICBF plus Board Bia and uses Teagasc’s life cycle assessment models to calculate the emissions produced on a farm. To find your emissions number, you need to sign up for the Signpost Advisory Programme.

With advisory support, farmers will make a plan to improve by adopting positive changes and technologies, and advisors will help them with the implementation of the plan, and tracking of progress.
This will also create trust and build capacity for supporting the adoption of new technologies as they emerge. The ambition of the programme is to engage with 50,000 farmers between now and 2030.

Programme Outline

Stan Lalor, Director of Knowledge Tranfer, Teagasc outlines the New Signpost Advisory Programme

Tell us about the new Signpost Advisory Programme?

Teagasc are setting up a new, targeted advisory programme to support climate and sustainability actions on farms. This new public good programme will be available to all farmers. It will build on the network of Signpost Demonstration Farms by providing enhanced advisory and training support to farmers to commit to, select and implement climate and sustainability actions that will be appropriate and impactful on their farms. Participating farmers will be given the opportunity to commit to taking action for their farms.

What is the overall aim of the Programme?

The overall aim of the programme is to empower farm families to adopt new and existing technologies and production systems that will allow agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 while maintaining farm profitability.

What will the Programme involve?

Farmers register for the programme
A baseline assessment of the current actions being implemented on the farm
Farmers will have the opportunity to see the total emissions figures for their farm (Know Your Number). This is an important starting point. It’s hard to change what you don’t measure.
An action plan for the farm will be developed in conjunction with an advisor (Make My Plan). Creating this action plan will be supported by being able to assess, select and commit to the actions that are most appropriate to the farm.Farmers will be supported to enable them to make the plan happen through a range of advisory supports, including both group-based and individual follow-up and advice.

How many farmers do you plan to engage with annually

The target for the programme is to register 10,000 farmers each year with 50,000 participating in the programme between now and 2030

How long will the programme run for?

Participation in the programme will be for 3 years. Farmers will be supported during this 3 year period in adopting the key technologies identified in the Action Plan for the farm.

How does the programme link in with the Signpost Demonstration Farm Network?

It has always been an ambition of the Signpost Programme to combine the network of demonstration farms with a dedicated advisory campaign to maximise the reach of the Signpost Programme. The launch of this advisory programme is the realisation of that original objective. The network of 120 demonstration farmers will play two critical roles in this programme:

They will be amongst the first to adopt climate mitigation and adaptation technologies, supported by their advisors and
They will be central to farmer-to-farmer learning, sharing their experiences with other farmers through farm walks, events, articles, videos, media etc.

A basic requirement for change is knowing where you are starting from, will farmers have access to this information for their own farm?

Yes - through the new Sustainability Digital Platform that will be launched in 2023. This platform will recognise the existing actions in place on the farm and establish baseline data for all farms and generate a total emissions figure for all farms. Following on from that, farmers will be able to determine the impact of different options and actions on the emissions profile specific to their farm. “Know My Number” is an important starting point for selecting the right actions in order to “Make My Plan” for the farm.

Is there a charge for the service?

No, the service will be free of charge to all farmers

Who will deliver the service?

A team of new advisors is being established within each of the advisory regions to deliver the service. The service will also be closely linked to the ongoing advisory support services currently in place, ensuring consistency and good integration into existing advisory programmes. However, additional advisors will help boost the support available to all farmers.

Will the programme deal with water quality and biodiversity loss?

While the main focus of the programme will be on achieving our climate action plan target, there will be complementarity benefits to water quality and biodiversity enhancement. Programmes like ASSAP as well as our ongoing programmes across the range of farm enterprises will complement this programme.

Where can farmers register for the programme?

Farmers can sign up for the Signpost Advisory Programme here

Where does the advisory programme fit in with the broader climate strategy?

Teagasc is significantly increasing its resources devoted to climate related research and knowledge transfer. The Signpost Advisory Programme is one of three key pillars of the new Climate Action Strategy:

A Signpost Advisory Programme
A Sustainability Digital Platform will be a new secure online platform that will allow farmers calculate emissions and carbon balances on their farm. It will also have a decision support capability that will allow advisors to work with farmers to develop tailored sustainability plans and track progress on implementing the plan.

A National Centre for Agri-food Climate Research and Innovation will be a virtual research centre across all of our existing research programmes in order to increase the coordination and collaboration of research and development around climate change mitigation and adaptation. This will accelerate the development of new technologies by co-ordinating and accelerating research and innovation programmes across Teagasc, as well with other institutes, both in Ireland and internationally.

The Signpost Advisory Programme will increase the capacity to support and accelerate the adoption of new technologies as they emerge from research.

Milestones for the Signpost Advisory Programme

2023

Signpost Advisory Programme established - Quarter 1
5,000 - mainly derogation farmersregistered and committed to a plan - Quarter 2
5,000 new farmers registered
10,000 farmers particiating - Quarter 4

2024

10,000 new farmers registered
20,000 farmers participating

2025

10,000 new farmers participating
30,000 farmers participating

2026

10,000 new farmers participating
30,000 farmers participating
10,000 farmers competed

2027

10,000 new farmers registered
30,000 farmers participating
20,000 farmers completed the programme

2030

50,000 farmers will complete the programme by 2030

Sign up for the Signpost Advisory Programme

Regsiter for the programme to avail of:

Signpost workshops and short training courses, focused on climate actions, including mitigation and adaptation measures;
An assessment of your current climate actions;
A farm specific Signpost Action Plan;
One-to-one Climate Action advice from a Teagasc Advisor;
Invitations to Signpost Farms farm walks and seminars;
Invitations to participate in thematic discussion groups;
Support in the implementation of your farm’s Nutrient Management Plan;
Digital newsletters, updates and text messages, including the monthly Signpost e-Newsletter;
Support in interpreting your farm’s GHG emissions and carbon footprint, including the opportunity for benchmarking your farm’s performance against industry targets