A new €1.45 million project on soil health and regenerative agriculture has been launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon.

Project Baseline is a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) that will run over the next four years with the aim to "increase our collective understanding of regenerative agriculture in the Irish context".

Speaking at the launch in Athy, Co. Kildare, Minister Heydon said: "This EIP will promote sustainable farming practices across farming sectors through focussing on improving soil health and ecosystem function and will also help inform policy on how to meet the objectives of the EU Soil Strategy 2030."

The project received funding from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under a recent call for EIP project proposals in the area of environmental sustainability.

The project is delivered through BASE (biodiversity, agriculture, soil and environment) Ireland, a network of farmers, agriculture professionals and agronomists who promote conservation in agriculture.

Rob Coleman, the project lead for Project Baseline, said: "In BASE alone we have over 100 farmers practicing regenerative agriculture, many for more than a decade.

"This project gives us the opportunity to understand, through measurement, the impacts of these practices on important outcomes, like soil health, farm biodiversity, and crucially of course, farm finances," Coleman added.

According to Coleman, the project team is conducting several pieces of work to determine the variables that need to be examined.

"We are looking forward to working with farmers and researchers over the coming months and years as we delve into the detail, uptake, and impact of regenerative agriculture in Ireland," he said.

The project manager (and former minister of state at the Department of Agriculture) Dr. Pippa Hackett commented: "This project has the potential to create a new baseline for Irish agriculture.

"There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that taking this soil-focussed approach delivers benefits, not only for soil and wider environmental health, but also for farm profitability. Project BASELINE will put the anecdotal evidence to the test," Dr. Hackett added.

She said that project will examine the reasons farmers take up regenerative agriculture with the aim of encouraging others to also take up the practice.

The launch of the project was hosted by BASE Ireland member Karl Colton, who said: "Like many of my colleagues, I have been implementing Regenerative Agriculture principles on my farm for some time.

"By learning from each other, I can see the difference in the health of my soil, my crops, and my bottom line," Colton added.