Beef and dairy farmers will be able to calculate their carbon footprints using Ag Nav, a new tool developed by Teagasc, ICBF and Bord Bia from 2024.

The tool will allow farmers to assess their carbon footprint, analyse where changes could be made to reduce emissions and then act on those changes, such as moving from urea to protected urea. The system will provide the farm’s total emissions, emissions per hectare and the carbon footprint per kg of beef or litre of milk produced. Ammonia emissions will also be detailed, and the system will consider additional things like water quality and biodiversity in the future.

Farmers can use their ICBF login for the system if they have one, and data from their Bord Bia Quality Assurance audits can be used to develop the footprint.

The system has been trialled with some of the Signpost Programme farmers and will be in pilot mode for 2023, but the aim is to work with 10,000 farmers per year from 2024.

The programme is currently for use on beef and dairy farms. In the next 12 months, sheep and tillage farm models will be worked on, and in the next 36 months pig, poultry, horticulture and egg models will be developed. At present, the programme uses default figures for the carbon footprint of feed, and further work is needed on making these figures more accurate.

The programme will be freely available to all farmers, and 21 advisers are being recruited to roll out the programme.