Climate Bolloxolgy.

The reason agri produces higher percentage in Ireland is because we have less heavy industry, no fracking, no coal and oil.

So we produce methane and thus a green house gas through the production of food.

This whole thing is a shyteshow where farming and agriculture are being fooking sacrificed so that the real big polluters continue as is.

In 2019 only 10% of greenhouse gas emmissions were methane, i.e. some of which could be hung on animals and farming.

80% were down to CO2.

And what do the powers that be decide to tackle, the thing that produces food for us to eat.

Meanwhile India, China and US continue as normal, creating new coal fired power stations, belching out yet more fumes on cars, etc...

Oh yeah the refrain about China investing heavily in renewables is exactly the same shyte greenwashing that Shell carries out when they do fancy ads about how they are investing 900 million in renewables with absolutely nothing about the billions they are investing in yet more fossil fuels extraction.

It is a fooking joke where the likes of Ireland, and the Irish stooges who want to look good, will decimate their only indigenous industry that produces food for people to supposedly save the world, while yanks swan around in big cars with aircon everywhere, Chinese industry belches out billions more tonnes of coal fired smoke and India does likewise.

Oh and the other shyte continously spewed out about going electric vehicles in a large number of cases is just changing from where the CO2 is emitted, coal/gas electricity generation versus diesel/petrol combustion.

Indeed it does but that doesn't change the fact that whilst the methane is in the air it is doing far more damage (x20) than the CO2 which was used in growing the grass. Two different things happening there.

Here's a useful analog to illustrate my point. Cyanide is made up of carbon and nitrogen - both absolutely harmless by themselves - but deadly when combined in even tiny quantities.

That doesn't mean we can't try reduce the methane emission ,as well as the co² and the Nox - and its coming ..

Naturally occuring cyanide is not OK and if you disagree with this I invite you to try eating some - see you in the morgue.

Increased stock numbers means increased methane production. Also the move from deep litter or outstocking to slatted sheds creates perfect conditions for the production of more methane and sulpher dioxide (another greenhouse gas). So everything about the changes in Irish beef production has caused an increase in Irish methane emissions.

Massively better. Methane is formed in the absence of air which is the very definition of a slatted shed slurry tank. Deep litter is relatively shallow, dryish and with reasonably good air circulation throughout its depth - encouraging aerobic decomposition which produces predominantly CO2. You only have to smell the difference between slurry and deep litter to understand the difference.

Slatted sheds were a necessity to increase stocking rates - but the wastes they produce are absolutely terrible compared to what came before. They are the main reason why Ireland is missing its targets on the Water Framework directive so badly - and the main reason Ireland will eventually be hit by massive fines for missing those targets.

The government bringing in the straw chopping scheme has put the price of straw up. Doing so is making more turn away from straw bedding and to cubicles. It was always about price why people went with cubicles and slats but it's even moreso now that those still hanging on buying straw are finally having to give in and go for concrete.

Dung heaps are not immune either. You'll lose your carbon in an uncovered dungheap and especially aerated with compost turners to co2 emissions. Only hope you'd have is cover with a sheet of plastic and anaerobically save by making bokashi.

Slurry is not the worst either Teagasc have done a trial and used commercially available Slurry bugs and different treatments. They didn't name the available bugs but there were big differences. Farmers who have used some bugs have reported no smell after treatments (sulphur dioxide and methane).

You haven't a notion of what your on about, whats the commercial value of a 1000 gallons of good quality slurry at the minute, go and google it and see what you come back with....

Nor do I want to understand it, it won't affect me, If the same percentage of the population show responsibility as there did during covid, there's nothing going to change

What's going to prevent the injection of slurry on large areas of the country, if you can travel ground with a splash plate tanker you'll travel it with a trailing shoe/dribble bar on the tank aswell, its going to be compulsory for all farms from 2023

You're giving tillage a massive oversight there.

The highest nitrates release are from tillage ground. Always have been. Always will be. Why?

You till the ground, you expose the soil carbon to oxygen, which floats off as co2 emissions. Soil carbon holds onto nitrate. If it's not there that nitrate leaches.

There's a teagasc catchment which is predominantly tillage with the highest nitrates release in the country and yet we've environmentalists looking for this to be replicated across the country. You'd have to wonder are they completely anti animal that they'd prefer higher nitrates release into the waterways than have carbon rich grassland soaking up those nitrates.

A system which consistently reduces the levels of carbon in the soil is a recipe for disaster. Erosion is endemic and the single biggest threat to agriculture across the planet. it also drives the constant need to bring fresh new land into agriculture - with the knock on effect of reducing biodiversity. There was a conference dealing with the issues a little while ago - soil scientists are more than worried.

You have just realised the key point eventually!!!!!!! FOSSIL FUELS.

Why do we want to hamstring an indigenous industry to pay for that?

And find where they're included in the inventories while your at it..

So the cyanide analogy was a poor one then.

At least you have now moved to a rational debating position rather than comparing methane to cyanide.

Is there a significant increase in methane from slurry storage versus the same number of animals outwintered.

My understanding is the bulk of the methane produced is from belching and flatulence. As such is it the increase in raw numbers or the housing practices which are having most impact.

It's not erosion though. People don't get that. When you say tillage people automatically think brown water after a flood.

But nitrate has no colour. You dissolve urea in a tank. It's as clear as cleanest of water. But you stick the tester in there and you'll get the reading.

You'll see carbon in soil but you will not see nitrogen. I'll use a biochar analogy as I know it. You pour nitrates in water (as clear as day) into a pot of biochar. It'll soak it up. None out the bottom.

You pour nitrates in water into a pot of tilled ground (ie sand) and it all goes straight through (as clear as water).