Agricultural Catchments Week 2023
The Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) ran a dedicated week of activities showcasing its research and advisory programme from Friday 5 May to Friday 12 May. Its theme was ‘A Living Lab Monitoring Water Quality and Gaseous Emissions.’
All through the week the ACP team showcased research, advisory and collaborative initiatives focused on water quality monitoring and improvement. Since 2008, the programme has been working with over 300 landowners in 6 catchments located around the country, monitoring water quality and assessing the impact of changes in Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme and Nitrates Derogation. In recent years, the programme has also started research on gaseous emissions.
The week started with a Teagasc Signpost Series Webinar on 5 May and was followed by a mix of in-person events, written articles, podcasts, and culminated with a public open day at the water monitoring outlet in the Timoleague catchment located in County Cork.
The content of the week was published each day through the Teagasc website, corporate social media channels and also the ACP’s own channels. There was a different focus and output for each day with the following highlights:
Friday 5 May
- Article, Teagasc Daily, Introduction to Agricultural Catchments Week 2023, Bridget Lynch & Tom O'Connell. Video of the Monitoring the living lab
Saturday 6 May
- Radio interview: Cork C103 Farmtalk show, 7-8am, Timoleague catchment update, Oisín Coakley
Monday 8 May
- Podcast: The Environment Edge - Farmers' preferences for actions to adhere to the 5th NAP, Diarmuid Mulkerrins.
Tuesday 9 May
- Podcast: The Dairy Edge - Seasonality of nitrate loss, Edward Burgess.
- Catchment visit: Penn State University in Ballycanew, ACP team
Wednesday 10 May
Thursday 11 May
Friday 12 May
Attendees got updates at eight different stops and PDFs of boards (no board at kiosk) can be downloaded at the following links:
Nutrient management, Edward Burgess
Soil solution monitoring, Ognjen Zurovec
Farmers' opinions, Michele McCormack & Diarmuid Mulkerrins
Water quality, Per-Erik Mellander, Golnaz Ezzati & Jason Galloway
Ecology, Lane Giles ASSAP & David Hegarty LAWPRO
The ACP acknowledges participants and others who are contributed to the week. This was the second time to run such an event and the details for Agricultural Catchments Week 2022 are available here.
The ACP is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.