The big story of the week has undoubtedly been the battle to retain the nitrates derogation.

The week began with Monday night's meeting in Corrin Mart in Fermoy, where about 2,000 farmers crammed into every available space for the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) big nitrates derogation meeting.

No-one does a set-piece quite like the IFA and this was in part a set-piece. That doesn't mean it didn't have substance. Of course, it did.

But it was also about optics. Brussels was watching, the wider media was watching, the people who would like to see the end of the derogation were watching. This needed to be an impressive event, at the very least - and that it was.

I've never been at a US college football team's pep rally, but I've seen enough of them in movies and TV shows to have been reminded of one on Monday evening.

Packed to the rafters

The place was packed to the rafters for starters, giving the entire building an energy. People were telling me they saw dairy farmers "who never went to a meeting in their lives" present.

The IFA had the foresight to make sure that every space - be it the main sales ring, the main meeting room or the concourse - had large screens and speakers set up, so people could follow proceedings wherever they were.

The main concourse resembled the back of the Hogan Stand at half-time in a big match. People were 30 deep, facing in different directions, carefully watching proceedings.

But the main similarity with a pep rally was that everyone in the building seemed to be on the same side.

The minister of the day is usually in the dock at meetings of this scale, but Martin Heydon and his key Department officials were being treated like the home team, being prepared for battle with encouragement and repeated reminders that they were equipped with the right stuff to achieve a result.

The right stuff in this case being strong arguments in favour of the retention of the derogation. The main argument is that it has proven a useful method of introducing best practice on 7,000 farms across a wide sweep of the country.

Buffer zones, the switch to low emissions slurry spreading, detailed nutrient management plans and fertiliser accounts, extra slurry storage capacity and the prohibition of the use of unprotected urea are just some of the measures that were first embraced by derogation farmers.

Much expected of those to whom much is given

To put it simply, derogation farmers have been best in class over the last two decades. They have had to be, as the Department has rightly adopted a zero-tolerance response to any breach of the derogation conditions.

One strike and you're out (to switch from an American football analogy to a baseball one). Out, as you lose the derogation and have to revert to 170kg/ha. For two years.

The second argument in favour of the retention of the current derogation is that farmers are still absorbing the cut revealed in July 2023 and introduced in January 2024.

It's true that the Euoprean Commission have stated that water quality has to be stable or improving for the derogation to be retained.

It's also true that the previous commissioner Sinkevicius and his officials determined that action had to be taken in the mid-term review of the current nitrates action plan, with the derogation revised downwards for the vast majority of farmers.

And it's reasonable to argue that some time is required to assess the impact of that derogation reduction before applying a second reduction in the space of 24 months.

That might be categorised as a political argument rather than a scientific argument, but how much scientific evaluation exists of farming at 220kg/ha to base a further reduction on.

Imagine for a second that the decision to reduce the speed limit to 60km/h on many secondary roads in this country fails to reduce the death toll on our roads.

Should the Government lower the speed to 50km/h after a year or two? Or should it reduce those roads still with a100km/h limit to 80km/h?

And imagine if these decisions were being taken with little or no detailed information as to which category of roads fatal accidents were taking place.

That, to a certain extent, is what is likely to happen here.

Irish farming aligned

So, IFA president France Gorman, economist Tadhg Buckley, Irish Co-operative Society president Edward Carr, Macra president Josephine O'Neill, Conor Mulvihill of Dairy Industry Ireland and Philip Carroll of Meat Industry Ireland all addressed Martin Heydon as their champion for the perspective in favour of the derogation, be they farmers, processors or agribusiness.

And, on Friday, when European Commissioner for Environment Jessika Roswall landed on our mild, damp little island, she was presented with a united front - government and sector aligned.

Grass was bottle green and growing

The day could hardly have been better from a point of view of selling the message that Ireland has a unique - and uniquely sustainable - method of milk and meat production.

Despite it being 8 November, stock were outside and grass was bottle green and growing. It's that near year-round grass growth and the fact that it is grazed fresh that is at the kernel of the elevated stocking rates Europe has continued to give Ireland through the derogation.

Most of Europe is either too dry, too hot or too cold to grow grass for more than six or seven months of the year.

It's also the reason our dairy products are sought around the world. Not only is there a verified sustainability system of production, there is also the unique taste of our product. That is why Kerrygold is the premium butter in premium markets across the world.

The sense is that Ireland will retain a derogation, with a decision likely in December after the quarterly meeting of the nitrates committee, comprised of expert civil servants from every member state.

The expectation is that the draft sixth nitrates action programme (NAP) will be approved in principle at the meeting, a crucial step in gaining a renewal of the derogation.

There is some speculation that the derogation won't be for the full three years of the new NAP. There are also concerns around what new conditions might be attached to a new derogation. We won't have long to wait.

Spotlight deflected

One company I think will be quietly hoping that the derogation is retained is Irish Water.

It was recently revealed that the State company charged with delivering drinking water and managing waste water (a prettier name for sewage) had awarded a whopping 93% of their staff a performance-related bonus.

That will come as a surprise to the many towns that have received water-use restrictions and prohibitions in recent months.

As long as the derogation is in place, the main conversation around nitrates and phosphate levels in our rivers and estuaries will be about agriculture.

However, if the derogation was lost, with an immediate impact on livestock numbers, attention would surely turn to Irish Water and to how far and how hard it is stretching itself to reduce the polluting effect from its wastewater treatment plants.

Local action groups, working to address water pollution in their communities, are becoming more aware of the efforts most farmers have made to minimise nutrient loss from their fields. They may start asking hard questions of Irish Water soon.

To misquote Richard Nixon, the commentariat won't have intensive farmers to kick around any more.

And the spotlight will be shone elsewhere. Hopefully, the derogation won't be lost, but it mightn't be too long in any event before serious questions are asked of Irish Water.