The cows wearing smart collars to measure activity

From monitoring animal activity to predicting the best time for insemination to genetic improvement, apps are playing an increasing role in farming and reducing its impact on the environment.

Modern technology has transformed Hugh Harbison's family farm in Aghadowey in County Londonderry.

His cows wear electronic collars so he can monitor how active they are and when his best producers are ready for insemination.

For Hugh it's about being both "profitable, and sustainable as well".

Farmers say they'll need help to play their part in achieving targets like a 48% reduction in overall emissions.

Hugh got involved when he got "fed up with farmers copping a lot of flak" about their emissions.

Agriculture is responsible for the largest share of Northern Ireland's greenhouse gases.

That includes methane from cattle, which is a significantly more potent GHG than carbon, having a greater impact in its shorter life.

There are more than 3,000 dairy farms in Northern Ireland and the dairy sector is a significant economic player in agriculture.

Managing emissions from these cattle is key to tackling their environmental impact.

That means improving efficiency in the herd - the same number of animals producing more and better milk.

Increasing that efficiency is a complex process though, involving analysis of the grass and feed the cows eat and scientifically monitoring their output.

Among the changes Hugh brought in after taking over Ballydevitt farm in 2012 was ing the ARC Zero project, which opened his eyes to the role the environment was playing in his farm management.

The whole farm was surveyed.

"We did a calculation to work out how much tons of carbon dioxide emissions were emitting from the cows that produce the milk that we produce on this farm and that gives us the baseline then to look at what our nitrous oxide emissions, carbon emissions and methane are, where they're coming from, and how we can improve that":[]}