Ecosystem Accounts – Grasslands and Croplands 2000-2022

Ecosystem Services Accounts

Ecosystem services accounts consider the supply and use of ecosystem services provided by ecosystems such as Grasslands and Croplands. Crop Provision is one of many ecosystem services supplied by Grasslands and Croplands and is the primary focus of this chapter. The Crop Provision ecosystem service refers to the contributions of ecosystems to plant growth as approximated by the quantity of harvested crops. While Grasslands and Croplands provide almost all harvested crops, the ecosystem Settlements & Other Artificial Areas also makes a contribution to Crop Provision where crops are grown in artificial settings e.g. under glass or high accessible cover.

From an ecosystem accounting perspective, supply and use tables are utilised to report ecosystem services like Crop Provision. These tables are structured to record flows of final ecosystem services between economic units and ecosystems and flows of intermediate services among ecosystem services. Entries can be made in physical and monetary terms. The reporting unit for Crop Provision supply and use tables is 1,000 tonnes.

In 2022, Croplands supplied a total Crop Provision service of 15.1 million tonnes of crops, around 40.9% of the supply of crops by all crop providing ecosystems. Grasslands supplied 21.7 million tonnes of crops (58.9%) while the remainder was supplied by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas at 83.4 thousand tonnes (0.2%). See Figure 4.1 and Table 4.1.

Table 4.1 shows the Crop Provision supply and use table for 2022. Crop Provision is split into two main categories, Crops (excluding fodder crops) and Crop residues (used), fodder crops and grazed biomass - please see Background Notes for more information on crop categories. These categories are broken down into several subcategories in Table 4.2. The total Crop Provision ecosystem service supplied in 2022 by all crop providing ecosystems was 36.9 million tonnes, this supply is all considered Intermediate Consumption by Industries since all of the supply can be harvested by the agriculture sector (see Table 4.1).

Table 4.2 shows Crop Provision supply for 2022 in greater detail with the inclusion of subcategories for Crops (excluding fodder crops) and Crop residues (used), fodder crops and grazed biomass. Each subcategory is allocated to one or more ecosystems, see Table 4.3.

Cereals were the largest component of the supply of Crops (excluding fodder crops) by Croplands in 2022, accounting for 78% (2.5 million tonnes) of this supply while Other crops (excluding fodder crops) were the smallest component of this supply with 15.8 thousand tonnes of crops. Grazed biomass was the largest component of the supply of Crop residues (used), fodder crops and grazed biomass by Croplands, accounting for almost 47% (5.6 million tonnes) of this supply. Other crop residues (sugar and fodder beet leaves, etc.) accounted for the lowest proportion of this supply at 102.3 thousand tonnes.

Grazed biomass accounted for over 63% of total Crop Provision supply by Grasslands in 2022 at 13.7 million tonnes while Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) were responsible for the remainder of this supply at almost 8 million tonnes.

Vegetables accounted for over 91% of total Crop Provision by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas (76.2 thousand tonnes) in 2022. Fruits accounted for the remainder of this supply at 7.2 thousand tonnes.

Table 4.3 shows the allocation of crops to ecosystem type(s). All crops can be allocated to Croplands, however, some crops can be also allocated to a second ecosystem type, Settlements & Other Artificial Areas or Grasslands.

Vegetables and Fruits can be allocated to Settlements & Other Artificial Areas as well as Croplands to represent the quantity of crops grown in artificial settings e.g. under glass or high accessible cover. Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) can also be allocated to Grasslands to account for fodder crop production (grass silage and hay) from permanent grasslands. Grazed biomass can be allocated to either Croplands or Grasslands to represent the supply of Grazed biomass from a grass rotation lasting at least one crop year and less than 5 years (Croplands) i.e. temporary grasslands and the supply of Grazed biomass from permanent grassland (Grasslands).

Crop Provision Supply by Ecosystem

Over the period 2000-2022, the Crop Provision service supplied by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas, Croplands and Grasslands has fluctuated. Table 4.4 displays the annual Crop Provision service supplied by each ecosystem while Figures 4.2a, 4.2b and 4.2c show the changes in Crop Provision by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas, Croplands and Grasslands respectively from 2000-2022.

Figure 4.2a highlights that 2015 was the year with the highest Crop Provision by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas with a crop supply of 89.6 thousand tonnes while 2007 had the lowest Crop Provision by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas at 69.3 thousand tonnes. The Crop Provision service supplied by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas in 2022 was 83.4 thousand tonnes.

Figure 4.2b shows the supply of Crop Provision by Croplands which in 2022 (15.1 million tonnes) decreased by almost 6% from 2021 (16 million tonnes). The lowest supply of Crop Provision by Croplands in the most recent 5-year period (2018-2022) occurred in 2018 at 13.7 million tonnes which coincided with an extended dry period in summer 2018 (see Met Éireann Summer Weather Statement for 2018) while the highest supply during this time was in 2021.

Finally, Figure 4.2c depicts the trends in Crop Provision by Grasslands. Grasslands supplied a total Crop Provision service of 21.7 million tonnes in 2022, a decrease of over 11% on 2021 (24.4 million tonnes). The lowest supply of Crop Provision by Grasslands in the 2018-2022 period occurred in 2022 while the highest supply in this period was in 2020 when Grasslands provided 25 million tonnes of crops.

One factor which contributed to the decreases in the supply of Crop Provision by Croplands and Grasslands of almost 6% and over 11% respectively in 2022 was the weather. In 2022, Ireland experienced its warmest year on record with below average rainfall (see Met Éireann Yearly Weather Statement for 2022) which undoubtedly had an impact on the supply of Crop Provision by both Croplands and Grasslands (Note: 2023 has since become the warmest year on record, see Met Éireann Yearly Weather Statement for 2023).

Crop Provision - Crops (Excluding Fodder Crops)

The Crops (excluding fodder crops) category is broken down into several subcategories which are all assigned to the Croplands ecosystem. Vegetables and Fruits can be assigned to Settlements & Other Artificial Areas as well as Croplands since some crops are grown in artificial settings e.g. under glass or high accessible cover.

Figure 4.3 and Table 4.5 show the supply of Crop Provision by Croplands for the Crops (excluding fodder crops) subcategories for 2000-2022. A key point of note is the sudden halt of the production of Sugar crops in 2006. In 2005, Sugar crops accounted for about 36% of the total amount of Crops (excluding fodder crops) supplied by Croplands. This relates to the ceasing of beet sugar production in Ireland when the European Union offered incentives to countries to exit the sector.

The lowest supply of Crop Provision by Croplands for Crops (excluding fodder crops) occurred in 2018 with a total supply of 2.3 million tonnes. The dry summer of 2018 (see Met Éireann Summer Weather Statement for 2018) could potentially be a key factor for this, the supply of Crop Provision of Cereals and Roots, tubers exhibited notable decreases. Cereals harvested in 2018 decreased by more than 20% on 2017 while the supply of Roots, tubers decreased by over 33%.

Figure 4.4 shows the supply of Crop Provision by Croplands for the smaller subcategories of Crops (Excluding Fodder Crops) (1.1) which are denoted as Other in Figure 4.3.

The supply of Crop Provision by Croplands of Pulses in 2022 was 61.6 thousand tonnes, an increase of over 21% on 2021 when it was 50.7 thousand tonnes. The supply of Oil-bearing crops by Croplands in 2022 was 76.7 thousand tonnes, an increase of almost 50% on 2021 (51.2 thousand tonnes). The supply of Fruits and Other crops (excluding fodder crops) by Croplands in 2022 was 23.8 thousand tonnes and 15.8 thousand tonnes respectively, which represents increases of almost 46% and 2% respectively on 2021.

Vegetables accounted for the vast majority (91%) of the supply of crops by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas in 2022 (76.2 thousand tonnes), while 7.2 thousand tonnes of Fruits were supplied, accounting for the remaining 9% of this supply.

Figure 4.5 and Table 4.6 show the supply of Crop Provision by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas for Vegetables which is broken down into two subcategories, Other vegetables - under glass or high accessible cover and Cultivated mushrooms. Cultivated mushrooms are the primary component of Vegetables supplied by Settlements & Other Artificial Areas, they accounted for over 86% of this supply in 2022 (65.9 thousand tonnes). Other Vegetables - under glass or high accessible cover accounted for 10.3 thousand tonnes of crops in 2022, an increase of just over 2% on 2021.

Crop Provision - Crop Residues (Used), Fodder Crops and Grazed Biomass

Straw, Other crop residues, Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) and Grazed biomass are the subcategories of Crop Category 1.2. As highlighted earlier in this chapter in Table 4.3, each subcategory can be assigned to Croplands while Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) and Grazed biomass can both be allocated to either Grasslands or Croplands. Grazed biomass can be assigned to Croplands to account for grazing that occurs on a grass rotation lasting at least one crop year and less than 5 years while grazing that occurs on permanent grasslands is allocated to Grasslands. Please see Background Notes for further information.

Table 4.7 shows the quantities supplied for each subcategory by ecosystem from 2000-2022. A point of note is the sudden drop in the supply of Other crop residues by Croplands in 2006 to 23 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 97% on 2005 (887.7 thousand tonnes). This relates to the fall in supply of Sugar crops as highlighted in Table 4.5 when beet sugar production in Ireland ceased.

Figure 4.6 shows the contribution of each subcategory to the supply of Crop Provision by Croplands, where the decrease in the supply of Other crop residues by Croplands is more evident. The supply of Grazed biomass by Croplands was 5.6 million tonnes in 2022, a decrease of over 16% on 2021 when the supply was 6.6 million tonnes.

Figure 4.7 shows the contribution of Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) and Grazed biomass to the supply of Crop Provision by Grasslands. The supply of Grazed biomass by Grasslands decreased from 16.3 million tonnes in 2021 to 13.7 million tonnes in 2022, a decrease of almost 16%. Similarly, the supply of Fodder crops (including biomass harvest from grassland) also decreased from 8.1 million tonnes in 2021 to almost 8 million tonnes in 2022, a decrease of almost 2%.