An Antrim beef farmer claims to have reduced emissions on his farm by 40 per cent.
Billy O’Kane has been running the family farm in Co Antrim since returning from his job as a vet in Yorkshire.
In 2002, he brought 200 cattle from the American Stabiliser breed and Mr O’Kane believes the change to this breed of cattle for beef production has been the single biggest factor in cutting emissions on his farm.
“I bought them because they are more profitable. They are a scientifically developed hybrid animal that eats less, grows faster and is sent to the factory younger,” he added.
Mr O’Kane now runs the breeding group for Stabiliser cattle in Northern Ireland and has reduced GHGs by cutting fertiliser inputs by half by introducing nitrogen-fixing clover in his grasslands and using low-emissions slurry spreading.
A carbon sequestration study of his 500 acre farm has been carried out including the carbon captured each year in soils and grassland, woodland and hedges.
“There is more carbon dioxide stored in soil than all the trees on the planet and the key is that soil ca sequester carbon while still producing food if treated in the right way,” he concluded.
LSL News