Teagasc will be encouraging as many tillage farmers as possible to calculate the carbon footprint of their crops in 2026 and into the future.

This will entail growers signing up for AgNav digital carbon calculator.

Doing so can help secure two fundamental drivers, where the future of crop production is concerned.

The first is the delivery of unequivocal evidence on the ultra-low carbon footprint of Irish cereals.

Linked to this is the generation of the data that will allow tillage farmers to secure significantly enhanced levels of efficiency within their businesses.

AgNav

Initial targets set for 2026 centre around a figure of 1,000 tillage farmers committing to AgNav.

Let’s hope this is a significant under-estimation of what the final commitment figures turn out to be.

Preliminary estimates generated through AgNav would indicate that Irish tillage has a uniquely positive carbon story to tell the world.

Estimates strongly suggest that crops of winter oats can deliver a net-zero carbon footprint if the straw is incorporated back into the soil.

This leaves one to surmise that negative carbon footprint values are possible if growers include cover crops within their rotations.

The benefits that AgNav can deliver for the crops sector have been highlighted at the 2026 National Tillage Conference and the ongoing series of Teagasc ‘Spring Tillage’ seminars.

And no doubt this momentum will continue to build as the new year progresses.

AgNav is a knowledge transfer support tool, empowering farmers by using verified data and providing best practice guidance to improve productivity, ensure economic viability and environmental sustainability.

More to the point, the outcomes it generates have been internationally verified.

Irish grain sector

Ireland currently imports two-thirds of the grains used in the country for dairy and other livestock production purposes.

So, given this background, what can the assumed verification of a low carbon footprint status do to secure a premium price for Irish grain into the future?

This is the real kernel of the challenge facing the Irish grain sector. Some means has to found of rewarding Irish tillage farmers for doing such an excellent job in producing grains that tick every box imaginable.

Up to now, no one has come forward with any coherent suggestions in this regard. But the clock is ticking.

Irish tillage farmers cannot survive taking world prices for the grains that they produce.

Unfortunately, the last 24 months have confirmed this reality in a very direct and sobering manner.