Teagasc Signpost Programme Newsletter April 2022

In this month’s newsletter the climate action focus is on securing silage stocks for next winter in the context of high fertiliser prices. The newsletter outlines a blueprint for incorporating clover successfully into a grassland sward. Check out the Signpost farmers featured, soil health and more
Issue 9 - April 2022
Check out the Signpost farmers that are featuring in the Farming Independent and Mark Plunkett gives us a short tutorial on soil health and what farmers can do to improve soil health. The decision support tool this week is calibrating the fertiliser spreader. Michael Hennessey, Head of Tillage KT provides us with some guidance on optimising organic manure use on tillage farms. We get a research update on the impact of optimising soil phosphorus level can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have 2 useful podcasts – how dairy farmer Bryan Daniels is farming sustainably on an intensive system and tillage farmer Don Somers explains how he is making savings on fertiliser costs this week.
Incorporate Clover - Win Win Solution to Economic & Environmental Sustainability
Incorporating clover in grassland swards has the potential to reduce costs, improve profitability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Read more here about Olivia Hynes
Climate Actions for April
Each month, we present climate actions that farmers can take to reduce gaseous emissions. These actions will be practical and timely. See below climate actions for the month of April.
Practical Steps to Improving Soil Health
Mark Plunkett, Teagasc Soil & Plant Nutrition Specialist provides us with a short tutorial on soil health and what farmers can do to improve soil health on farm.
Watch Practical Steps on How to Improve Soil Health
How to Calibrate a Fertiliser Spreader
Calibrating the Fertiliser Spreader
It is very important that you calibrate the fertiliser spreader to ensure the correct rate of fertiliser is going out. In this video Francis Quigley demonstrates the steps to checking the spreader is functioning correctly and how to calibrate it
Impact of Tillage Crops on the Environment
Reducing the impact of tillage crops on the environment largely revolves around the reducing nitrogen inputs. Nitrogen accounts for approximately 80% of all greenhouse gasses (GHG) from tillage production. Where chemical nitrogen can be reduced, then GHG emissions will fall.
IPCC Fact Sheet - Climate Change Impacts & Risks
The Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) issued a stark warning to the world on climate change in the most recent IPCC report: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Report, issued in late February. The authors of this latest report, state that Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit.
The Environment Edge Podcast
Bryan Daniels, former grassland farmer of the year, chats about the sustainability measures he is carrying out on his farm. It highlights how a productive dairy farm can meet sustainability challenges.
The Tillage Edge Podcast
This week’s Tillage Edge podcast continues the series looking at farmers who are working closely with Teagasc in the Signpost Farms programme and other initiatives. Don Somers, a farmer in Wexford, and his advisor John Pettit, joined Michael Hennessy to discuss Don’s farm practice. Don has costed out various fertiliser practices and has identified that changing to protected urea on winter crops will return savings of close to €39/ha or close to €3,000 over the farm. He is running a min-till establishment system for the past few years and has worked hard to build fertility over the last 8-9 years. Don has a very good handle on his soil's fertility and yields coming from the fields as he will use yield mapping data to feed into fertiliser prescription maps.
Signpost Programme Partners
The Signpost Programme is a collaborative partnership of farmers, industry and State Agencies, working together for climate action.
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