Agricultural Catchments Programme Phase 2 Report February 2017 Editors: Ger Shortle and Phil Jordan Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre 1 Acknowledgements Teagasc and the Agricultural Catchments Programme team wishes to express its appreciation to the following for their assistance and support in the operation of the programme. The farmers and landowners in the six catchments Sreenty/Corduff, Co. Monaghan Dunleer, Co. Louth Ballycanew, Co. Wexford Castledockerell, Co. Wexford Timoleague, Co. Cork Cregduff, Co. Mayo Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – the programme funders Mr Bill Callanan, Mr Tony Reid, Dr Patricia Torpey, Mr John Muldowney, Mr John Fox, Mr Michael O’Donovan, Mr Matt Sinnott, Mr Richard Gregg, Ms Patricia Kelly, Mr Paul Dillon, Dr Deirdre Fay, Mr Peter Cafferkey, Mr Jack Nolan, Mr Seamus Barron, Mr Michael O’Donoghue. Expert Steering Group Prof Phil Haygarth – Lancaster University Prof Oene Oenema – Wageningen University Prof Andrew Sharpley – University of Arkansas Prof Jim Roche – University College Dublin Dr Patricia Torpey - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Mr Pat Duggan - Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Mr Donal Daly – Environmental Protection Agency Consultation and Implementation Group Mr Thomas Ryan, Mr Pat Farrell – Irish Farmers Association Ms Mary Buckley, Mr Conor Creedon, Mr James O’Mahony, Mr John O’Connor, Mr Patrick Rohan and Mr John Comer – Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association Mr Derry Dillon - Macra na Feirme Mr Eddie Punch, Mr Gabriel Gilmartin, and Ms Gillian Westbrook – Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association Mr Ray Doyle – Irish Cooperative Organisation Society Mr Matthew Craig - Environmental Protection Agency Mr Frank O’Flynn - Cork Co. Council Mr Ray Spain - Carlow Co. Council 2 Teagasc Colleagues (including retired and ex-staff members) Johnstown Castle Mr Paddy Browne, Dr Noel Culleton, Dr. Owen Carton, Dr Hubert Tunney, the late Dr Michael Ryan, Dr Karl Richards, Dr Rogier Schulte, Mr Dennis Brennan, Ms Teresa Cowman, Ms Linda Moloney-Finn, Mr Rioch Fox, Ms Maria Radford, Mr Cathal Somers, Ms Carmel O’Connor, Mr Sean Colfer, Mr John Corish, Mr Christy Maddock, Dr Anna Fenelon, Dr Rachel Creamer, Mr Donal Doyle, Ms Mairead Esmonde, Mr Nicky Hayes, Dr John Finn, Ms Sarah Lacey, Ms Mary Foley, Mr Ian Fox, Dr Stan Lalor, Mr Mark Plunkett, Dr Gary Lanigan, Dr Owen Fenton, Ms Lilian O’Sullivan, Mr Sean McCormick, Mr Brendan Connick, Mr Pat Donnelly, Mr Pat Murphy, Mr Tim Hyde, Dr Leanne Roche, Dr David Wall, Dr Daire O’hUallachain. Rural Economy Research Centre Dr Cathal O’Donoghue, Mr Reamonn Fealy, Mr Stuart Green, Dr Kevin Heanue, Mr Brian Moran, Dr Aine Macken-Walsh Knowledge Transfer Mr Conor Dobson, Mr John Lawlor, Mr John Keating, Mr Larry O’Loughlin, Mr John Mulhern, Mr Seamus O’Dowd, Mr Thomas Curran, Ms Anne Malone, Mr Con Feighery, Dr Siobhán Kavanagh, Mr Billy Kelleher, Mr Peter Leonard, Ms Majella Moloney Agricultural Catchments Programme Team – past and present Ms Maria Merriman, Mr John Kennedy, Dr Per-Erik Mellander, Mr Thomas O’Connell, Mr Eddie Burgess, Mr Dermot Leahy, Mr Simon Leach, Ms Una Cullen, Ms Patricia Lynch, Mr Mick Fleming, Dr Nenia Micha, Dr Sara Vero, Mr David Ryan, Mr Frank Lennon, Dr Noeleen McDonald, Dr Sinead Murphy, Dr Mairead Shore, Dr Cathal Buckley, Ms Sarah Mechan, Mr Oliver Shine, Mr Noel Meehan, Dr Alice Melland, Dr Paul Murphy, Mr Brian O’Connor, Mr Mark Treacy, Dr Lucy Crockford, Dr Edel Kelly, Dr Ian Thomas, Dr Eoin McAleer, Mr Philip Murphy, Mr Andrea Villa 3 Agricultural Catchments Programme Phase 2 Report February 2017 Editors: Ger Shortle and Phil Jordan Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre 4 Foreword 7 Executive summary - Science into Policy theme 11 Chapter 1 - Introduction 23 Chapter 2 - Effects of the Measures 49 Chapter 3 - Understanding the Challenges 93 Chapter 4 - Potential Future Solutions 159 Chapter 5 - Farmer Liaison and Knowledge Transfer 235 Chapter 6 - Dissemination 251 Appendix I 259 Appendix II 275 Appendix III 285 CONTENTS 5 Agricultural Catchments Programme Phase 2 Report February 2017 Editors: Ger Shortle and Phil Jordan Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre 6 FOREWORD 7 8 FOREW0RD This is the Phase 2 report of the Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) and covers the second four year period from January 2012 to December 2015. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) continues to fund the programme into Phase 3 which will run until the end of 2019. The ACP was initiated to address needs brought about by the introduction of the Nitrates Directive and Water Framework Directive in Ireland. However, Ireland’s agriculture and food landscape has evolved rapidly during the life of the project following the targets of the Food Harvest 2020 report in 2010, which proposed that Ireland could grow its exports of food and beverages by one-third and increase the value of primary food production by €1.5 billion, including a 50% increase in milk production. Food Wise 2025 followed in 2015 calling for an increase in the value of agri-food exports by 85%. The abolition of milk quotas has created the opportunity to achieve the ambitious milk production targets and it is likely that they will be achieved ahead of 2020. Increasing farm output while meeting Nitrates and Water Framework Directive water quality targets poses substantial challenges for Irish farmers but also presents an opportunity. This opportunity lies in the potential to capitalise on Ireland’s sustainable farming credentials as promoted by Bord Bia’s Origin Green sustainability programme. The ACP is eager and well positioned to play an important part in providing the evidence to support the drive towards environmental and economic sustainability on Irish farms. This report seeks to clearly communicate the scientific findings from Phase 2 of the ACP and their policy implications. To this end, each peer- reviewed output from Phase 2 is presented first as bullet point summaries which condense the studies into a few key messages (and highlighted policy implications). A synopsis then expands on these points and, for readers who wish to access the detail of the study, a journal reference and web link is supplied. The ACP is built on a partnership with farmers and integrates research with advice to deliver excellent science. The trust that has been built between the ACP team and the farmers in the six catchments is the essential element of its success and we are very grateful to them for their continued support. We wish to thank the DAFM, the catchment farmers, colleagues in Teagasc and all who have supported the programme through Phase 2. We look forward to continued collaboration and success during Phase 3. Ger Shortle – Programme Manager Phil Jordan – Principal Scientist This report can be cited as: Shortle, G. and Jordan, P. (2017). Agricultural Catchments Programme – Phase 2 Report. Teagasc, Wexford. 9 Agricultural Catchments Programme Phase 2 Report February 2017 Editors: Ger Shortle and Phil Jordan Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes and explains the relevance of the outcomes from Phase 2 of the Agricultural Catchments Programme (2012-2015) and follows on from the Phase 1 report (2008-2011). The Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and is operated by Teagasc. Its core objective is to measure the effectiveness of the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) measures implemented under the Nitrates Directive, i.e. the Nitrates Regulations, at catchment scale while also evaluating the efficacy of the nitrates derogation. The scientific findings from the ACP help fulfil Ireland’s monitoring and reporting requirements under the EU Nitrates Directive and the EU Water Framework Directive. Furthermore, the findings support key agri- environmental policies and strategies, including: • The review of Ireland’s Nitrates Regulations, including the nitrates derogation in 2017. • The 2nd cycle of River Basin District Planning under the Water Framework Directive. • Food Wise 2025 and scientific verification that Irish farmers are producing milk, meat and crops in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner. • Origin Green and water quality in the context of marketing the sustainability of Irish food production on world markets. The overarching conclusion of the ACP’s work to date is that the imple- mentation of the Nitrates Regulations by Irish farmers has improved water protection against pollution caused by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from agricultural sources. Further improving nutrient management on Irish farms by supporting farmers’ nutrient management decisions, is the single change that can do most to help farmers protect and improve water quality. Better nutrient management can also deliver improved economic returns to the farmer by increasing the efficiency with which farmers use nutrients, i.e. producing more output for the same, or less, nutrient input. Win-win mitigation measures, such as this, that reduce risk to the environment while also increasing economic returns are the most likely to be voluntarily taken up by farmers. 13 In fact, when farmers adopt innovations which increase nutrient use efficiency, the environment