Abstract In the context of an expanding, export-dependent agri-food sector, indicators of sustainable development and intensification are necessary to measure, assess and verify the comparative advantage afforded by Ireland’s natural pastoral-based food production systems. Such indicators are also necessary to ensure that we produce more food with less adverse impacts on the Irish environment, climate and society. This article outlines the development of farm-level indicators that refect the multifaceted nature of sustainability, which is encompassed in economic, environmental and social indicators. The role of innovation in farm sustainability was also examined. A comparison of indicators across Irish farm systems showed that dairy farms, followed by tillage farms, tended to be the most economically and socially sustainable farm systems. In relation to greenhouse gas emissions in particular, the top-performing dairy farms, in an economic sense, also tended to be the best-performing farms from an environmental sustainability perspective. This trend was also evident in relation to the adoption of innovative practices on farm, which was found to be strongly correlated with economic performance.

中文翻译：

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使用 Teagasc 国家农场调查为爱尔兰制定农场级可持续性指标

摘要 在依赖出口的农业食品部门不断扩大的背景下，可持续发展和集约化指标对于衡量、评估和验证爱尔兰以自然牧区为基础的食品生产系统所提供的比较优势是必要的。这些指标也是必要的，以确保我们生产更多的食物，同时减少对爱尔兰环境、气候和社会的不利影响。本文概述了反映可持续性的多方面性质的农场级指标的发展，包括经济、环境和社会指标。还审查了创新在农场可持续性方面的作用。对爱尔兰农场系统指标的比较表明，奶牛场，其次是耕作农场，往往是最具经济和社会可持续性的农场系统。特别是在温室气体排放方面，从经济角度来看，表现最好的奶牛场也往往是从环境可持续性角度来看表现最好的农场。这种趋势在农场采用创新实践方面也很明显，发现这与经济绩效密切相关。