Climate Targets: The agricultural sector has been tasked with reducing emissions by 25% by 2030 to help stem global warming. Bruce Thompson is a successful dairy farmer in Co.Laois who practices the most technical offsetting measures. But even he can only reach 14% reduction without reducing his herd. A move he’s not prepared to make voluntarily. Can farming really meet its short-term emissions targets without reducing the national herd and if so where is the roadmap to achieve that?

Green Beetle: Nature based solutions are increasingly being used throughout agriculture to solve common farming problems. Docks are native plants which are very common across Ireland. But they can be problematic for farmers, who frequently use herbicides to kill them.
Louis and Siobhan Ward are two Mayo farmers championing an alternative approach…by breeding the native green dock beetle and selling them to farmers to use to replace herbicide.

Solar Farming: Over 42% of Ireland’s Renewable energy comes from onshore Wind farming, but when it comes to harnessing the power of the sun, we are lagging behind.
But some farmers are embracing the prospects of farming energy alongside their crops and animals.
Michael Quirke from Aghada in Co. Cork is one of them. Helen Carroll visited his mixed farming enterprise and walked the fields where barley once grew but is now home to over 10,000 solar panels with the capacity to power over a thousand homes and saving over 4,000 tonnes of Carbon.

This season we continue to explore the issues, challenges and opportunities facing Irish farmers and rural dwellers. Ear to the Ground is produced by indiepics for RTÉ and is broadcast from the 7th of November through until March.