Teagasc

Background

Teagasc (pronounced โ€œCha-gaskโ€) is the Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland. It is a state agency and charity established in 1988,1โ€œAgriculture (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988,โ€ Houses of the Oireachtas, 1988. Archived July 31, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wip/K4CKa which provides โ€œintegrated research, advisory and training services to the agriculture and food industry and rural communitiesโ€, according to its website.2โ€œOur Organisation,โ€ Teagasc. Archived July 16, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KRX66

Headquartered in Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland, Teagasc operates3โ€œNational Institutes and Facilities,โ€ Teagasc, 2024. Archived June 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cniv3 two food research centres, six other research centres, and eight research farms.4โ€œResearch Farms – Teagasc,โ€ Archived December 8, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wip/xeeFH The agency was due to receive โ‚ฌ168 million from the Irish government in 2024, an increase of โ‚ฌ10 million from the previous year.5Charles Oโ€™Donnell. โ€œBord Bia and Teagasc see funding boost in Budget 2024,โ€ Agriland, October 11, 2023. Archived January 31, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wGOCr 

Teagasc has โ€œfive strategic goalsโ€, including to โ€œprovide science-based evidence and technologiesโ€ to help Ireland โ€œmeet commitments in regard to gaseous emissions, water quality and biodiversityโ€;6โ€œOur Organisation,โ€ Teagasc. Archived July 16, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KRX66 Its charitable purposes include โ€œprotection of the natural environmentโ€ and โ€œthe advancement of sustainabilityโ€.

As a state agency with expert status, Teagasc is central to developing agricultural policy and measures for reducing emissions and pollution. Since 2010, Teagascโ€™s recommended mitigation measures have been directly accepted as a basis for policy, incorporated into five yearly โ€˜agri-strategyโ€™ plans, and Irelandโ€™s 2024 Climate Action Plan.7โ€œClimate Action Plan 2024 Annex of Actions.โ€ Government of Ireland, 2023. Archived December 20, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. In this time, agriculture emissions have risen substantially, in parallel with an expansion of agricultural production.8Schulte, R., Lanigan, G, & Donnellan, T. โ€œIrish Agriculture, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change: opportunities, obstacles and proposed solutions (2010 Climate Bill Submission),โ€ Teagasc, 2011. Archived September 15, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The UNโ€™s leading science body the UNโ€™s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are clear that absolute cuts to limit cumulative total emissions are required by nations to meet climate commitments.9โ€œFCCC/CP/2016/2 Aggregate effect of the intended nationally determined contributions: an updateย  Synthesis report,โ€ UNFCCC. May 2, 2016. Archived August 4, 2016. ย Archive URL: https://archive.ph/I0Wp2 However, instead of outlining policy or regulatory options to curtail total emissions, such as limiting emissions-intensive production by reducing herd sizes, Teagasc has emphasisedย  improving agricultural emissions efficiency, the emissions per kilogram of milk or meat..10โ€œReturn of the MACC,” Teagasc, 2018. Archived March 23, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/EscG6

Teagasc defends the retention of Irelandโ€™s derogation from the EU Nitrates directive, which aims to limit nitrate water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, despite reporting from theย  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that show Irelandโ€™s abject failure to improve water quality, largely due to increased agricultural nutrient losses, especially from dairy expansion.11โ€œUpdate on pressures impactingย  on water quality.โ€ EPA May 2024. Archived June 17, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8MwkA(For more detail, see DeSmogโ€™s background note on the EU Nitrates Directive).

The livestock sector accounts for 38 percent of national GHG emissions and 99 percent of ammonia air pollution, while nitrate and phosphate nutrient losses from the livestock sector are the largest contributor to water body pollution.12โ€œIrelandโ€™s Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023 [landing page],โ€ EPA. July 2024. Archived July 9, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/kf3rB (For more detail, see DeSmogโ€™s background note Climate, air and water pollution from intensive agriculture).

Teagasc hosted in 2022 meat and dairy industry representatives at a conference that produced the โ€œDublin Declarationโ€. This statement has been used to target EU officials against environmental and health policies, and is viewed by leading climate scientists as โ€œpropagandaโ€.13โ€œThe Societal Role of Meat- What the Science Says,โ€ Teagasc, October 2022. Archived February 21, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Signatories of the document have condemned critiques as a โ€œsmear campaignโ€.14Frederic Leroy et al. โ€œOpinion piece: Activist tactics and the discrediting of scientists,โ€ Aleph2020, November 15, 2024. Archived July 11, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/L0ImJ

A Teagasc report on its strategic pathways for 2015-2020 states that the agency is โ€œindependent of commercial pressures or biasโ€, and that its โ€œadvice is based on rigorous scientific researchโ€.15โ€œStrategic Pathways for the Teagasc Agricultural Advisory Service 2015-2020,โ€ Teagasc. Archived August 1, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Environmental NGOs in Ireland have called on the Irish government to โ€œreview the legal mandateโ€ of Teagasc and to โ€œreorientโ€ its research and advisory activities โ€œtowards a sustainable agro-ecological model, ensuring that environmental expertise is immediately represented on its board and managementโ€.16โ€œTowards a New Agricultural and Food Policy for Ireland Recommendations for Government,โ€ Environmental Pillar, Stop Climate Chaos, and Sustainable Water Network, 2021. Archived September 30, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Policy-supported agriculture growth in Ireland

Since 2010, successive governments and the Department of Agriculture have consistently relied on Teagasc data to indicate that climate goals and pollution limits would be met despite animal agriculture expansion.17โ€œAre Teagascโ€™s climate mitigation projections credible?โ€ An Taisce, August 21, 2019.Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xq5wn

For example, in a 2015 Teagasc report, a section on โ€œDairy expansion, GHG emissions and sustainable milk productionโ€ states that โ€œFarmers can increase output per cow and grow their farm businesses while still controlling their emissions production by adopting the right technologies.โ€18โ€œThe End of the Quote Era,โ€ Teagasc, April 2015. Archived October 17, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/pZ7GY 

In fact official emissions reporting by Irelandโ€™s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)19โ€œIrelandโ€™s National Inventory Report 2024.โ€ EPA, 2024. Archived April 19, 2024.  Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 
confirms a substantial increase in agricultural emissions since 2010.20Price, P. R. โ€œAgricultural Methane in Irish Climate Action: greenhouse gas metrics, methane mitigation, and related quantification of livestock numbers.โ€ Legacy4LIFE Programme, Task 2.2 Report. May 2024. Archived June 18, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Relative to 2005, the EU baseline reference year for agricultural emissions, Irelandโ€™s milk production has increased by over 73 percent and a 52 percent rise in dairy cow numbers, resulting in a 65 percent increase in dairy methane emissions, according to calculations in a recent analysis from environmental advocates An Taisce.21Price, P. R. โ€œAgricultural Methane in Irish Climate Action: greenhouse gas metrics, methane mitigation, and related quantification of livestock numbers.โ€ Legacy4LIFE Programme, Task 2.2 Report. May 2024. Archived June 18, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Teagascโ€™s research underpins policy plans which have substantially increased Irish exports of milk and meat products.22โ€œAgriculture & Food in Ireland,โ€ Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI), 2020. Archived April 2, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wip/Jbyv Revised every five years, these ten-year plans โ€“ Food Harvest 2020 (published 2010), Food Wise 2025 (2015), and Food Vision 2030 (2021) โ€“ are developed by an โ€œagri-food strategy policy-development committeeโ€, which is appointed every five years by Irelandโ€™s Minister of Agriculture and where Teagascโ€™s chair is always represented.

Other than state agency officials, these committees are dominated by agri-food lobby representatives. Teagascโ€™s current chair, Liam Herlihy, also chairs FBD, the financial group associated with the Irish Farmers Association, and is a former director of large dairy food processors Glanbia and Ornua.23Stella Meehan. โ€œHerlihy reappointed chair of Teagasc Authority.โ€ Agriland.ie. July 24, 2023. Archived July 24, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5Lb9o

Since 2010, Teagasc has issued three climate mitigation reports โ€“ in 2012, 2018, and the latest in 2023 โ€“ that have adopted the approach of the so-called โ€œMarginal Abatement Cost Curveโ€ (MACC), a tool that aims to rank the relative cost effectiveness of different measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture and land use sectors.24โ€œMarginal Abatement Cost Curve 2023,โ€ Teagasc report, July 12, 2023. Archived February 7, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 

These mitigation assessments have been key to enabling the expansion of animal agriculture achieved by Irelandโ€™s decadal policy plans, by insisting that technical efficiency measures and their voluntary adoption by farmers would enable sector-wide absolute emission reductions, despite the growth of the sector. In fact, since 2009, annual GHG emissions, ammonia air pollution, and nitrate water pollution due to agriculture have all increased overall, especially due to dairy expansion.25โ€œReport Of Food Vision Dairy Group On Measures To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From The Dairy Sector,โ€ Government of Ireland, 2022. Archived March 15, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.   

A 2018 article published in the journal Critical Public Health criticised the 2010 โ€˜Food Harvest 2020โ€™ policy, which mentions Teagasc 43 times. It concluded

โ€œFood Harvest 2020 was developed by a limited number of food industry professionals and government agencies focused entirely upon food as a tradable commodity stripped of any health considerations outside that of health marketing, functional foods and traditional food safety concerns. Participation beyond that of industry and producer organisations was minimal, and public health engagement in the process was minute.โ€26Kenny, T., Cronin, M., Sage, C. โ€œA retrospective public health analysis of the Republic of Irelandโ€™s Food Harvest 2020 strategy: absence, avoidance and business as usualโ€. Critical Public Health, January, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2017.1293234 Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Tara McCarthy, the former CEO of Irelandโ€™s state food agency Bord Bia, described the Food Wise 2025 policy as โ€œindustry-ownedโ€ in a 2017 interview with professional services firm GrantThornton.27โ€œInFocus with Tara McCarthy,โ€ Grant Thorton, December 19, 2017. Archived January 30, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Irelandโ€™s most recent agri-strategy development committee, appointed in 2019, includes 17 committee members representing farming and industry groups, as well as a number of government officials, primarily from Teagasc and the food marketing body, Bord Bia.28โ€œMinister Creed announces Stakeholder Committee to develop Irelandโ€™s Agri-Food Strategy to 2030 and opens first meeting,โ€ Merrion Street. November 28, 2019. Archived August 15, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/AWkfh

In a February 2021 statement, the Environmental Pillar, an umbrella group of green NGOs, announced it had โ€œreluctantly withdrawnโ€ its one seat from the โ€œproblematic 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committeeโ€. It called on the Government โ€œto take full responsibility for agricultural policy to radically change courseโ€.29โ€œThe Environmental Pillar withdraws from the problematic 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committee,โ€ Environmental Pillar, February 25, 2021. Archived November 4, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/2ALRA

In the statement, the group described the draft strategy as โ€œwoefully inadequate to meet the social and environmental challenges we faceโ€, adding: โ€œThis industry-led process has ultimately failed to meet the moment and the draft document it produced provides no evidence that it is based on the EU Green Deal, including the EU Farm-to-Fork Strategy or the EU Biodiversity Strategy.โ€

In August 2021, the Government announced it had endorsed30โ€œLaunch of โ€˜Food Vision 2030 – A World Leader in Sustainable Food Systemsโ€™โ€ Merrion Street, August 4, 2021. Archived October 22, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ts0HL the โ€œFood Vision 2030โ€31Food Vision 2030  A World Leader in  Sustainable Food Systems.โ€ Government of Ireland, August, 2021. Archived August 2, 2021. DeSmog archived pdf. strategy, which it described as โ€œa major new decade-long and pioneering strategy for Irelandโ€™s food and drinks sectorโ€. 

Stance on Climate Change

Ireland has committed to a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 2030. Agriculture was responsible for 38 percent of Irelandโ€™s total national emissions in 2023, primarily due to methane from cattle burps and animal manure, as well as nitrous oxide from spreading fertiliser and nitrogen excretion by farm animals.32โ€œIreland’s Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023 [web page].โ€ EPA. July 2024. Archived July 9, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/kf3rB

Teagasc acknowledges the need for climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. On its website, Teagasc states that the โ€œclimate challengeโ€ requires a โ€œco-ordinated response to move the industry forwardโ€. Teagasc also says it โ€œsupport[s] the need for early and decisive action at farm levelโ€ by โ€œaccelerat[ing] its research, advisory and education activityโ€ on reducing nitrogen and methane emissions; enhancing biodiversity and adaptation; increasing carbon capture; and โ€œsupporting policyโ€.33โ€œClimate Action,โ€ Teagasc. Archived March 25, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/EJzum

In 2022, Teagasc launched its Climate Action Strategy (2022โ€“2030), which states that 2C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures would have โ€œthe potential to have a devastating impact on the worldโ€™s environment and food securityโ€ and that โ€œurgent action is needed in all countries and sectors including agriculture to reduce emissions, increase carbon removals/sequestration and prepare to adapt to the changing climateโ€.34โ€œClimate Action Strategy 2022-2030,โ€ Teagasc, 2022. Archived March 29, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The strategy also notes:

โ€œThe world also faces food and nutrition, energy, and biodiversity crises, and our actions must deal with all the challenges in a co-ordinated manner. Agriculture must therefore maintain/increase food production, reduce emissions, increase sequestration, improve biodiversity and contribute to energy security, whilst also ensuring economic and social sustainability.โ€

Teagascโ€™s Climate Action Strategy also sets out a roadmap for the sector to achieve the governmentโ€™s target to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030 โ€œwithout impacting on the competitiveness of the agri-food sectorโ€.35โ€œClimate Action Strategy 2022-2030,โ€ Teagasc, 2022. Archived March 21, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Approach to reducing agricultural emissions

Prior to 2010, Teagascโ€™s own research on mitigating the sectorโ€™s climate impact and improving water quality acknowledged that imposing national limits on the number of farm animals and fertilisers was an effective way to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.36James Humphreys, โ€œNutrient issues on Irish farms and solutions to lower losses,โ€ International Journal of Dairy Technology, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0307.2008.00372.x Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

A 2009 Teagasc study quantified how beef and dairy cattle numbers would need to be reduced for the sector to align with the EUโ€™s goal for a 20 percent reduction in total sector emissions by 2020 relative to 2005.37Donnellan, T., Gillespie, P., Hanrahan, K. โ€œImpact Of Greenhouse Gas Abatement Targets On Agricultural Activity,โ€ 2009. Archived April 2, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Relatedly, Teagasc economist Trevor Donnellan pointed out in 2009 that Irish agricultural greenhouse gas emissions had been decreasing, that they could continue to fall over the next decade, and that on this trajectory a reduction of 10 percent relative to 2005 levels would be possible.38โ€œTeagasc finds fall in agriculture emissions but challenges remain,โ€ Irish Examiner, March, 17, 2009. Archived April 2, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/W9Z5c

Instead, the sectorโ€™s emissions have risen substantially since 2010. Teagasc has concentrated on encouraging farmers to adopt technical measures that reduce the โ€œcarbon footprintโ€ of milk and meat production, including policies that support the โ€œintensification of animal agricultureโ€.

The Signpost39โ€œSignpost Programme,โ€ Teagasc, 2024. Archived July 31, 2024 Archive URL: https://archive.ph/7Fb9K and AgNav40 โ€œAgNav,โ€ Teagasc. Archived January 10, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/2azXa advisory programmes advise farmers how to limit emissions rather than assessing policy alternatives to effect system change.

โ€˜Marginal Abatement Cost Curvesโ€™ (MACC)

Since 2012, Teagascโ€™s technical analyses use a โ€˜Marginal Abatement Cost Curveโ€™ (MACC) approach, a tool that ways up costs or savings expected from different emission reduction pathways. Teagascโ€™s MACC analysis does not consider policy to limit total system nutrient inputs or total animal-type numbersโ€™ directly through regulation or taxation.

A research report in 2020 noted that MACC analysis methods have been โ€œstrongly critiquedโ€ in academic literature, but that โ€œthese flaws are often overlooked in policy use of MACC curvesโ€.41McMullin B. and Price, P. R. โ€œSynthesis of Literature and Preliminary Modelling Relevant to Society-wide Scenarios for Effective Climate Change Mitigation in Irelandโ€ Environmental Protection Agency, 2020. Archived August 9, 2021. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog Teagascโ€™s MACC climate mitigation reports do not acknowledge these flaws.

MACC reports primarily recommend technical measures for voluntary adoption by farmers to improve the โ€œcarbon footprintโ€ (emissions intensity in emissions per kg of output) of their milk and livestock production. 

Aideen Oโ€™Dochartaigh, assistant professor in accounting at Dublin City University, told Irish investigative website Noteworthy in 2021 that focusing on emissions intensity (efficiency) measurements was โ€œa red herringโ€. She was reported saying โ€œit has been a โ€œmassive problemโ€ for years that companies are โ€œincreasing their activity while increasing their efficiency and it all cancels outโ€.42Niall Sargent, โ€œTransparency gap: State bodies holding back company emissions data from the public,โ€ Noteworthy, May 3, 2021. Archived February 6, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/EVCtu

Irish environmental charity An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, strongly criticised Teagascโ€™s 2023 MACC report as failing to โ€œappropriately acknowledge the escalation of agriculture emissions almost every year since the first MACC was published in 2012, despite all MACCs being considered the โ€˜roadmapโ€™ for agricultural action on climate and cutting emissionsโ€.43โ€œTeagasc MACC Not Fit For Purpose,โ€ An Taisce, July 17, 2023. Archived February 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wip/SkVF9

For a more detailed analysis, see DeSmogโ€™s MACC background note.

Justifying animal agriculture expansion 

Teagasc has stated that โ€œmuch of the answer [to cutting emissions] lies in farm efficiencyโ€.44Lanigan, G., Donnellan, T. & Hanrahan, K. โ€œReturn of the MACC,โ€ Teagasc, November 2020. Archived March 23, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

It continues to hold this position โ€“ rather than calling for reductions in or livestock numbers โ€“ even though its own 2023 โ€œMACCโ€ detailed analysis found that measures to increase productivity had resulted in a very large โ€œbackfireโ€ rebound effect that had substantially increased dairy emissions.45Gary Lanigan, Kevin Hanrahan, Richards, K.G.. โ€œAn Updated Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Potential of the Irish Agriculture and Land-Use Sectors between 2021 and 2030.โ€ Teagasc. July, 2023. Archived October 9, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/X2JmZ

To justify the ongoing expansion of Irelandโ€™s herds, Teagascโ€™s public statements repeatedly express a โ€œcarbon leakageโ€ concern, ie. that if Ireland reduces production, it will simply move to countries with less stringent regulation and result in more emissions intensive meat or milk production overall.

For example, in an April 2021 written statement, Teagasc told the parliamentary agriculture committee that: โ€œGiven the low carbon footprint of Irish milk and meat, Ireland can continue to strive to meet growing international market demand for food so as to contribute to global food security and avoid carbon leakage [production shifting to other countries with laxer emission constraints] whilst at the same time meeting environmental obligations including those related to climate change.โ€46โ€œThe Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill implications for agriculture โ€“ Teagasc statement to the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee,โ€ Teagasc, April 14, 2021. Archived September 25, 2021. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

A 2024 research paper notes that โ€œcontrary to the vague assertions commonly made in industry and advisory documents, if anything, carbon leakage has thus likely been more toward Ireland (as agriculture has consistently ignored agreed emissions goals), not away from Ireland to other nations.โ€47Price, P. R. โ€œAgricultural Methane in Irish Climate Action: greenhouse gas metrics, methane mitigation, and related quantification of livestock numbers,โ€ Legacy4LIFE Programme, Task 2.2 Report. May 2024. Archived June 18, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The same paper concluded that these talking points โ€“ such as efficiency claims, carbon leakage, or โ€œfeeding the worldโ€ โ€“ that had featured heavily in agricultural advice over the past decade lacked โ€œquantitative or regulatory substanceโ€ and served to โ€œdistract from the primary requirement for advice that will help enable a dependable transition pathway for Irelandโ€™s agri-food system within the agreed commitments to meet absolute emission reduction targets and pollution ceilings.โ€

Key Actions

May 2024

On May 24, Teagascโ€™s weekly online Signpost Series hosted48โ€œThe Signpost Series Webinars.โ€ Teagasc, 2024. Archived August 16, 2024.Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cMitD a webinar 49โ€œSignpost Series – Frank Mitloehner โ€“ Sustainable Livestock, Sustainable Future, 2024.โ€ Teagasc Signpost Series, youtube video. June 5, 2024. Archived August 21, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/uFMV9 presentation entitled โ€œSustainable Livestock, Sustainable Futureโ€, with a following audience Q&A session, by the controversial Professor Frank Mitloehner from the Department of Animal Science, University of California. 

The Irish Farmers Journal reported that in the webinar Mitloehner had said โ€œproductivity increases on farm is the number one way of reducing emissions related to livestock farmingโ€.50Anne Oโ€™Donoghue. โ€œProductivity increases best way to reduce livestock emissions – Mitloehner.โ€ Irish Farmers Journal. May 24, 2024. Archived May 24, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph//n8vIS

By contrast, analysts at the 2021 Global Methane Assessment โ€“ the most detailed analysis of methane mitigation methods to date โ€“ state that policy has more power than technical measures to reduce emissions. They state: โ€œgiven the limited technical potential to address agricultural sector methane emissions, behavioural change and policy innovation are particularly important for this sectorโ€.51โ€œGlobal Methane Assessment,โ€ UNEP, 2021. Archived September 21, 2024 Archive URL: https://archive.is/VQDX9

October 2022

Teagasc hosted and financed52Frรฉdรฉric Leroy et al., โ€œOpinion piece: Activist tactics and the discrediting of scientists. Animal source foods in ethical, sustainable & healthy diets,โ€ Aleph2020, November 15, 2023. Archived April 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yx2Mq a Dublin โ€œSummitโ€ for meat and dairy industry representatives and academics titled โ€œThe Societal Role of Meat โ€“ What the Science Saysโ€.53โ€œThe Societal Role of Meat- What the Science Says,โ€ Teagasc, October 2022. Archived February 21, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The PR agency Red Flag โ€“ which has worked for the agribusiness and tobacco industries previously โ€“ was also involved in planning the conference, according to emails obtained by investigative outlet Unearthed.54Zach Boren. โ€œRevealed: The livestock consultants behind the Dublin Declaration of Scientists,โ€ Unearthed, October 27, 2023. Archived January 12, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xKcyo

The conference was used to launch the โ€œDublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestockโ€, which claimed that livestock systems โ€œare too precious to society to become the victim of simplification, reductionism or zealotryโ€.55โ€œDublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock,โ€ October 2022. Archived October 18, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Declan Troy, now Teagascโ€™s assistant director of research, is listed on the authorship page as an โ€˜initiator; of the โ€œDublin Declarationโ€ alongside agribusiness consultant Peer Ederer, the food scientist and outspoken meat advocate Frรฉdรฉric Leroy, Collette Kaster (CEO of the American Meat Science Association) and two others.56โ€œAuthorship,โ€ The Dublin Declaration, October 2022. Archived January 12, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/oabcM As of July 2024, 17 of the 27 Dublin Declaration signees from Ireland note their affiliation with Teagasc.57โ€œLatest Signatures,โ€ Dublin Declaration of Scientists. Archived July 10, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/gAagQ Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Other signatories include UC Davis professor Frank Mitloehner

Peter Smith, Professor of Soils & Global Change at the University of Aberdeen and a lead author for the UNโ€™s IPCC, told The Guardian that the Dublin Declaration โ€œreads more like livestock industry propaganda than scienceโ€.58Damian Carrington. โ€œRevealed: the industry figures behind โ€˜declaration of scientistsโ€™ backing meat eating,โ€ The Guardian, October 27, 2023. Archived December 26, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/3SVqA

In response to criticism resulting from reporting by Unearthed and The Guardian, Irelandโ€™s agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue said he โ€œsee[s] no conflict in Teagascโ€™s involvement with the recent โ€˜Dublin Declarationโ€™โ€ while appreciating that โ€œas a science-based organisation, it is important that Teagascโ€™s research integrity and independence is maintained at all timesโ€.59Ciaran Moran, โ€œMinister backs Teagasc over accusation of โ€˜propagandaโ€™ in โ€˜declarationโ€™ backing meat eating,โ€ Irish Independent, November 30, 2023. Archived December 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/rvF9i

A symposium held in Brussels in 2023 to share the Dublin Summit outcomes was opened by Teagascโ€™s director, Frank Oโ€™Mara, who is also president of lobby group the Animal Task Force (ATF) which co-organised the meeting with the Belgian Association for Meat Science and Technology (BAMST).60โ€œThe societal role of meat and livestock. What the science says.โ€ European Livestock Voice, April 18, 2023. Archived April 20, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/1QKnK

A November 2023 opinion piece with over 20 Dublin Declaration signees among its authors condemned critiques of the document as a โ€œsmear campaignโ€ and stated that โ€œit was written in protest to persistent attempts to undermine the credibility of established experts and organizations in the domain of animal source foods and livestock agricultureโ€.61Frรฉdรฉric Leroy et al., โ€œOpinion piece: Activist tactics and the discrediting of scientists. Animal source foods in ethical, sustainable & healthy diets.โ€ Aleph2020, November 15, 2023. Archived April 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yx2Mq

According to the article, โ€œNeither the Declaration nor the Dublin Summit received financial backing from the industry, nor was their content influencedโ€. The authors noted that Teagasc provided โ€œthe sole financial support, a modest sum of 40,000 Euros to facilitate organization of the Summit.โ€62Frรฉdรฉric Leroy et al., โ€œOpinion piece: Activist tactics and the discrediting of scientists. Animal source foods in ethical, sustainable & healthy diets.โ€ Aleph2020, November 15, 2023. Archived April 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yx2Mq

In the Oireachtas (Parliament), Neasa Hourigan TD raised a number of concerns around Teagascโ€™s role in supporting the declarationโ€™s launch, citing the minister of stateโ€™s attendance at the summit, and possible biases of the declarationโ€™s lead authorship.63โ€œSaincheisteanna Trรกthรบla – Topical Issue Debate โ€“ Dรกil ร‰ireann (33rd Dรกil).โ€ Houses of the Oireachtas, November 9, 2023. Archived April 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/6RSEj

Hourigan specifically noted that lead author Peer Ederer had commented, โ€œWhat started the [Dublin Declaration] coverage in Ireland is not the brilliance of our science but the fact that we had a minister and a commissioner thereโ€, referencing the findings of Unearthed.

Hourigan stated, โ€œMost lobbyists pay the State for access and consideration but Ireland must be in a unique position of paying those same lobbyists โ‚ฌ39,000 for the privilege of being manipulated and hoodwinked by an unethical and anti-science industry operative. Teagasc was founded as a research and industry development body. If we cannot rely on the data and scientific objectivity of Teagasc, where does that leave us?โ€

Responding on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, deputy Sean Fleming said that, while Teagasc had hosted the Summit and agreed to pay some of the cost of it, it โ€œdid not host the Dublin Declarationโ€.

Fleming stated, โ€œThe declaration emerged subsequent to the summit; it was not overseen by Teagasc at the event […] Teagasc has assured me that as a State agency it has no conflict of interest when it comes to these mattersโ€.

However, a Teagasc press release appears to contradict Flemingโ€™s claim. The document, which was issued on the first day of the conference, and features a photograph of Fleming with the Teasgasc leadership, links directly to the Dublin Declaration website and states that โ€œSummit attendees, with academic and scientific credentials, will be invited to endorse the evidence base by signing the โ€˜Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Meatโ€™โ€.64โ€œLeading scientists advance science in global meat debate,โ€ Teagasc, October 19, 2022. Archived January 12, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ZXbAm 

May 2022

George Ramsbottom65โ€œGeorge Ramsbottom,โ€ Linkedin, Accessed April 19, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. โ€“ a farmer, and dairy specialist employed by Teagasc, and president of farming trade group Irelandโ€™s Agricultural Science Association โ€“ told the Irish Times that agricultural greenhouse gas emissions โ€œhave remained relatively unchanged since the 1990sโ€ and that he saw โ€œno signs of any increase in the dairy herdโ€.66Mark Hilliard, โ€œFarming emissions remain largely unchanged since 1990s, Agricultural Science Association head says,โ€ The Irish Times, August 8, 2022. Archived August 8, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/a4XAM

Ramsbottom leads Teagascโ€™s Signpost Advisory Programme,67โ€œDr George Ramsbottom appointed to lead the Teagasc Signpost Advisory Programme,โ€ Teagasc, March 2023. Archived September 25, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/PKfKZ which focuses onย  farmers adopting technical measures as the primary means of climate action in agriculture.68โ€œSignpost Advisory Programme – George Ramsbottom, 2023,โ€ Youtube video uploaded by user Teagasc on July 6, 2023. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. It focuses on farmerโ€™s calculating their GHG production intensity using the AgNav toolkit developed by Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), and Bord Bia.

Ramsbottom said, โ€œYouโ€™d imagine from whatโ€™s being reported that there was kind of an explosion in stock numbers and an explosion in emissions going on but the reality is probably not quite as dramatic as that,โ€ adding, โ€œthe reality is it hasnโ€™t changed that much really.โ€ 

December 2020

In 2020, an independent evaluation by climate governance experts of Irelandโ€™s Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) โ€“ of which Teagascโ€™s director is an โ€œex officioโ€ member โ€“ warned against the continued granting of ex officio council seats, specifically stating that โ€œTeagasc is additionally regarded by us as representing a sectoral interest in the [low carbon] transition.โ€69Geraldine Tallon, Sharon Turner, and Halldรณr Thorgeirsson. โ€œIndependent Evaluation of the Climate Change Advisory Council. Climate Change Advisory Council [Ireland].โ€ December, 2012. Archived January 22, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/SBZZs 

Despite these concerns, the Governmentโ€™s amended Climate Act 2021 reconfirmed Teagasc’s ex officio CCAC seat, even though the state energy agency and the leading economic advisory lost theirs. 

9 December 2020

At a webinar event on December 9, researchers presented Teagasc Sectoral Roadmaps 2027,  providing its outlook for the next seven years by agricultural sub-sector: dairy, beef, sheep, pigs, tillage (arable crops), forestry, horticulture and environment.70โ€œTeagasc Sectoral Roadmaps 2027,โ€ Teagasc. December 9, 2020. Archived December 9, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ABqTN

While Teagascโ€™s overview report acknowledged the โ€œsignificant challengeโ€ posed by emissions reductions, its 2027 Sectoral Road Map: Dairy projected an increase in dairy cow numbers from 1,465,000 in 2019 to 1,650,000 in 2027, with a rise in milk output from 7.99 billion litres to 9.49 billion litres.

The environment roadmap did not acknowledge that total emissions from the agriculture sector had already risen substantially since 2011 (largely due increases in fertiliser use and dairy farming), and did not align with the EU 2020 target of reducing national emissions including agriculture by 20 percent.71Josh Gabbatiss. โ€œIn-depth Q&A: Why Ireland is โ€˜nowhere nearโ€™ meeting its climate-change goals.โ€ Carbon Brief. June 18, 2019. Archived June 18, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/edSer 

However, the Teagasc roadmap did note that, โ€œIn recent years water quality has disimprovedโ€, contrary to the ultimate objective (under the EU Water Framework Directive), of โ€œAchieving good or excellent status in 100% of ground and surface water.โ€ As for emissions mitigation, the sectoral roadmaps primarily proposed efficiency measures to improve water quality and reduce ammonia emissions. 

For more detail, see DeSmogโ€™s background note on Sectoral Road Maps (Dairy, Beef, Agriculture and the Environment).

March 2019 

Trevor Donnellan,Teagascโ€™s head of economics and farm surveys, presented at a seminar hosted by the Irish Climate Science Forum (ICSF), a group that claims climate science โ€œis not yet settledโ€, as reported by DeSmog.72John Gibbons. โ€œGovernment Agency Accepts Invitation to Speak at Irish Climate Science Denier Event,โ€ DeSmog, March 13, 2019. Archived December 5, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XBXQz Irelandโ€™s former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan criticised Teagasc for attending the event, describing the ICSF as the โ€œmain centre for climate scepticismโ€ in Ireland.73Niall Sargent. โ€œGreens critical of Teagasc talk at โ€œclimate scepticโ€ event,โ€ Green News Ireland, March 13, 2019. Archived  September 23, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8eAHk

In response, a Teagasc spokesperson told DeSmog: โ€œTeagasc has presented results from its research to multiple organisations. This is another opportunity to outline which mitigation measures can contribute to reducing Irelandโ€™s emissions from the land-use sectors.โ€

Funding

Teagasc receives nearly โ‚ฌ200 million in funding annually, of which around 75 percent comes from the EU and Irish government. Teagasc say that โ€œ40% of the [Teagasc] budget is devoted to research with the remainder split half and half between advisory and education services.”74โ€œOur Organisation,โ€ Teagasc. Archived December 20, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KRX66

In 2024, the Irish government increased its funding to Teagasc from โ‚ฌ158 to โ‚ฌ168 million. Commenting on the additional funding, agriculture minister Martin Heydon said: โ€œFarmers cannot deliver on environmental sustainability unless they are economically sustainableโ€ adding that he believed the answer to environmental challenges โ€œlie in science and innovationโ€.75Charles Oโ€™Donnell. โ€œBord Bia and Teagasc see funding boost in Budget 2024,โ€ Agriland, October 11, 2023. Archived October 12, 2023.  Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wGOCr

Moorepark Technology Ltd (MTL), a joint venture company at Teagascโ€™s Moorepark Food Research Centre in Fermoy, County Cork, has received substantial government and private funding for dairy processing research,76โ€œMoorepark Technology: Pilot Plant Rental,โ€ Moorepark Technology, 2024. Archived January 25, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xaMWY with two separate public-private investments of โ‚ฌ10 million in 201577โ€œโ‚ฌ35M innovation investment in Irish dairy processing industry jointly announced by Minister Bruton and Minister Coveney,โ€ Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, February 2, 2015. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bbBi7 and in 2019.78โ€œ2019 – New โ‚ฌ10 million investment in Moorepark Technology Ltd,โ€ Teagasc, December 13, 2019. Archived December 13, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/OoBeS

Teagasc is the majority shareholder in MTL, with 57 percent. Nine dairy processing companies, Enterprise Ireland and Ornua hold the remaining shares.79 โ€œNew โ‚ฌ10 million investment in Moorepark Technology Ltd – Teagasc.โ€ Teagasc. โ€œDecember 13, 2019. Archived December 13, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/OoBeS

In 2023, major Irish farming insurer FBD contributed โ‚ฌ6 million to the development of a new Centre for Sustainable Animal and Grassland Research at Teagasc Moorepark.80โ€œDairy – FBD contributes โ‚ฌ6 million to new research centre at Teagasc Moorepark,โ€ Teagasc, December 4, 2023. Archived March 5, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xRsYr The largest shareholder in FBD is Farmer Business Developments plc,81โ€œOur History,โ€ Farmers Business Development. Archived March 5, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YGE1E whose board members are appointed82โ€œOur Team,โ€ Farmer Business Developments, 2024. Archived March 5, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RuKhk by lobby group the Irish Farmers Association (with two seats) and farmer cooperative processors (with four seats).

Charitable Status

Unlike other state-funded sectoral expert agencies in Ireland Teagasc was also established as a charity. Teagascโ€™s listed charity trustees also make up Teagascโ€™s board.83โ€œTeagasc/The Agriculture and Food Development Authority,โ€ State Board Memberships. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/mdF4g

The Irish Charities Regulator lists Teagascโ€™s charitable purposes as: โ€œAdvancement of education; Protection of the natural environment; Advancement of environmental sustainability; [and] Prevention or relief of suffering of animalsโ€.84โ€œTeagasc – Agriculture and Food Development Authority,โ€ Charities Regulator, 2024. Archived January 31, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/n2Nsx

Teagascโ€™s charitable status has been questioned in the Irish parliament. In 2022, Irish Social Democrats politician Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Agriculture how the original functions of Teagasc are compatible with its obligation under the Charities Act 2009 to solely pursue its charitable purpose.

She went on to question whether it was โ€œappropriate that Teagascโ€™s trustees have personal liability for a State body with an annual budget of just under โ‚ฌ200 million per annumโ€.85โ€œTeagasc Activities,โ€  Houses of the Oireachtas, July 26, 2022. Archived January 31, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/v5mtJ  

The Minister answered that Teagascโ€™s charitable status had been held since 1988 โ€œto avail of certain tax exemptionsโ€, that the โ€œregistration is ultimately a matter for the Charities Regulatorโ€, that Teagascโ€™s board of directors are โ€œcollectively responsible โ€ฆ and โ€ฆ appoints the charity trusteesโ€, and that his department โ€œhas no role in the matterโ€.

Lobbying

Teagasc does not appear as a lobbyist in Irelandโ€™s official register, which primarily records lobbying through documented meetings and written submissions. 

However Teagasc is one of 62 public bodies that will be added to Irelandโ€™s Lobbying Register in January 2025, after which date communications between agriculture and food lobbyists and Teagasc representatives will be officially recorded in the Lobbing.ie register.

As a public body, Teagasc is required to list senior officials who may be targets of lobbying as โ€œDesignated Public Officialsโ€ (DPOs). As of August 2024, five Teagasc office holders are listed.86โ€œRegulation of Lobbying – Designated Public Officials for Teagasc,โ€ Teagasc. Archived February 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/0ynz8

News articles show that agriculture industry representatives have attended multiple events and committees alongside Teagasc DPOs.

Teagasc has itself been accused of lobbying on behalf of the dairy industry by the NGO An Taisce, after comments made by Teagascโ€™s then-director Dr. Gerry Boyle at an agricultural college graduation ceremony, in which he stated:

โ€œWe donโ€™t want quotas coming in by the back door, particularly in dairy, and that is the risk. You only have to go to the North of Ireland to see what a restriction in relation to ammonia has done (in putting) the brakes on developing a dairy industry. We are far better off if we control the agenda down here. We have the technologies but now need farmers to engage with themโ€.87Margaret Donnelly, โ€œClimate change demands could see return of milk quotas by the โ€œback doorโ€,โ€ Irish Independent, December 3, 2019. Archived April 2, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/GcL6S

An Taisce said that Boyleโ€™s comments meant the body was moving โ€œwell beyond Teagascโ€™s legal remit and into the realm of agri-politicsโ€.88โ€œAn Taisce raises serious concern at recent reported remarks by Teagasc Director,โ€ An Taisce, December 5, 2019. Archived February 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CatuE

Affiliations

Teagascโ€™s board of directors, also called the Teagasc Authority, has 11 members appointed by the Irish Minister of Agriculture. It includes representatives from farming organisations, the food industry, universities, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Teagasc staff.89โ€œOur Organisation,โ€ Teagasc. Archived July 16, 2024.  Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KRX66

As of July 2024, the board includes three dairy farmers, one beef and tillage farmer (the Deputy President of the Irish Farmers Association), a Department of Agriculture official, two agri-food academics, a agri-business consultant, a fertiliser company director, the president of Macra na Feirme (an organisation representing young farmers), and a Teagasc staff member. The board does not include any environmental NGO representatives.90โ€œAuthority,โ€ Teagasc. Archived July 16, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cKqyJ

Previously, in 2019, An Taisce had noted that the Teagasc Authority was โ€œdominated by dairy farmersโ€, with five of the then-boardโ€™s eleven members โ€“ including the chairman โ€“ being dairy farmers.91โ€œAn Taisce raises serious concern at recent reported remarks by Teagasc Director,โ€ An Taisce, December 5, 2019. Archived February 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CatuE

In July 2020, prior to joining Teagasc, its current director, Frank Oโ€™Mara became president of the Animal Task Force (ATF), which is a โ€œpublic private platformโ€92โ€œVision and mission,โ€ FACCE-JPI. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/rRIHU aiming to โ€œwork for benefit of the livestock sectorโ€,93โ€œAbout Us,โ€ Animal Task Force. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/32KIG acting โ€œas a representative of the EU livestock sectorโ€, and with the objective to โ€œpromote the livestock sector in EU initiativesโ€.94โ€œFostering knowledge based innovation for a sustainable and competitive livestock sector in Europe,โ€ Animal Task Force, 2022. Archived August 1, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Lobbyfacts.eu records show that ATF also lobbies the EU to promote livestock sector interests, spending โ‚ฌ50,000 to โ‚ฌ100,000 per year on lobbying activities.95โ€œAnimal Task Force,โ€ LobbyFacts. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/0CXjr An FAQ on ATFโ€™s website includes the question โ€œAre you a lobby organisation?โ€ with the answer, โ€œYes, we lobby for the European livestock sector. While doing this, we follow the official EU Code of Conduct.โ€96โ€œFAQ,โ€ Animal Task Force, n.d. Archived August 21, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/r9BAD

Memberships

Teagasc is represented on all agriculture and land use stakeholder groups appointed by the Minister of Agriculture to cut emissions and reduce pollution, including the Food Vision policy and its dairy,97โ€œReport Of Food Vision Dairy Group On Measures To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From The Dairy Sector,โ€ Government of Ireland, 2022. Archived March 15, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. beef and sheep,98โ€œFinal Report on the Food Vision Beef & Sheep Group to Mitigate GHG emissions from the Beef Sector,โ€ Government of Ireland, 2022. Archived March 15, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. and tillage99โ€œInterim Report of the Food Vision Tillage Group,โ€ Food Vision Tillage Group, 2023. Archived February 27, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. implementation sub-groups, which were set up to report on options for climate mitigation. 

Teagasc staffs the ASSAP water pollution mitigation advisory for farmers, which it operates alongside dairy industry representatives.100โ€œPeople,โ€ Teagasc. Archived February 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.p/UI7nh

Teagascโ€™s director was one of four institutional stakeholders granted automatic ex officio council membership of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), which was established by Irelandโ€™s 2015 Climate Act as an independent panel of experts to critically advise governments.101โ€œThe Climate Change Advisory Council – Membership.โ€ Climate Change Advisory Council, 2024. Archived March 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/naYLj This position was renewed in 2021 despite an independent evaluation of the CCAC warning that Teagasc represented a sectoral interest in the [low carbon] transitionโ€. 

As well as the director Frank O’Mara’s place on the CCAC, two other Teagasc economists sit on the council’s Carbon Budgets Working Group102 โ€œCarbon Budgets Working Group  2023-2024.โ€ Climate Change Advisory Council, 2023. Archived July 2, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/G9Nfd that will recommend Ireland’s next five year carbon budgets. 

Teagasc is a member of Animal Health Ireland, alongside government and state agencies, farm representative organisations, milk and meat processors, advisory support services, and artificial insemination companies. AHI is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership between private sector organisations and businesses in the agri-food sector.103โ€œAnnual Report 2021,โ€ Animal Health Ireland, 2022. Archived May 30, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Sustainability Awards

In 2024, Teagasc launched its Environmental Sustainability Awards to โ€œpromote environmentally sustainable farmingโ€. The awards are organised alongside Bord Bia, Irelandโ€™s state food agency, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), and are sponsored by insurance company FBD. The ceremony gives cash awards to individual farmers for initiatives including โ€œReducing gaseous emissionsโ€ and โ€œImproving soil health and carbonโ€.104โ€œTeagasc FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards 2024,โ€ Teagasc. Archived August 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/iBdJP

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