Climate change is challenging for Irish agriculture both in the context of greenhouse gas emissions and the need for adaptation of farming practices to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. In Ireland the Agriculture sector was directly responsible for 37.8% of national Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions in 2023, mainly methane from livestock, and nitrous oxide due to the use of nitrogen fertiliser and manure management.
EPA Inventory data shows that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in Ireland decreased by 4.9% (or 1.07 Mt CO₂eq ) in 2023 following a decrease in 2022 of 0.8%.
Table 1: Sources of emissions
| Type of Activity | Description and associated emissions | Share of Emissions (2023) |
| Enteric Fermentation | Fermentation that takes place in the digestive systems of ruminant animals such as cattle and sheep resulting in direct emissions of the greenhouse gas methane. | 63.1% |
| Agricultural Soils | Activities that lead to the direct and indirect emissions of nitrous oxide related to agricultural production, including application of synthetic fertilisers, animal wastes and other organic fertilisers, biological nitrogen fixation by crops, cultivation of organic soils, and mineralisation of crop residues. | 18.4% |
| Manure Management | Methane and nitrous oxide greenhouse gases are produced during the management, storage and spreading of animal manure. Emissions from manure management vary significantly between the types of management system used. | 11.9% |
| Fuel combustion (Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing) | Emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel combustion in agriculture and forestry sectors. | 4.0% |
| Liming | Soil pH plays a key role in soil fertility. The application of limestone to correct soil acidity results in emissions of carbon dioxide | 2.2% |
| Urea application | The addition of urea-containing fertilisers to soils results in emissions of carbon dioxide that was fixed during the industrial production process. | 0.7% |
Open in Excel: Agriculture activity types May 2025 (XLS 11KB)
The most significant drivers for the decreased emissions in 2023 was decreased synthetic fertiliser use (-18.2%). Livestock numbers decreased in general, however the size of the dairy herd continued to increase, (+0.6% in 2023), with a 4.5% decrease in milk output per cow.
This is the 13th consecutive year of increases in dairy cow numbers. Milk output per cow decreased in 2023 (-4.5%). This reflects national plans to expand milk production under Food Wise 2025 and the removal of the milk quota in 2015. In 2023, total cattle numbers decreased by 1.2%, sheep numbers by 0.7% and pig numbers by 4.3%, while the poultry population increased by 3.1%.
In the last 10 years 2013 to 2023, dairy cow numbers increased by 40.6% and milk production increased by 56%. This reflects the national plans to expand milk production under Food Wise 2025 and the removal of the milk quota in 2015.
In the same 10-year period sheep numbers increased by 11.5%, pigs by 1.6% and poultry by 29.4%.
(Latest update May 2025)
Total emissions from agriculture are projected to increase by 1.1% over the period 2018-2030 to 21.6 Mt CO2eq in 2030 under the With Existing Measures scenario.
Under the With Additional Measures scenario emissions are projected to decrease to approximately 18.0 Mt CO2eq by 2030 which is a 15.8% reduction over the period 2018 to 2030. This scenario assumes the implementation of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2024 (with the exception of diversification measures), measures in the Teagasc Marginal Abatement Cost Curve1.