Farmers who imported organic manures such as slurry or farmyard manure between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2026 must verify such imports via their agfood.ie account by 14 July 2026. A failure to verify the movement by this deadline will render the movement ineligible.

This could have serious implications for the exporter of the organic nutrients if the movement is taking place to stay within certain stocking rate limits. Importers who receive organic nutrients from 1 July to 31 December 2026 must verify such movements by 14 January 2027.

The new layers on the Department's mapping system show areas of ground which have an average incline of 20% or more (orange colour) and 15% or more (purple colour).

Export rules

It is worth a reminder that farmers exporting organic nutrients must inform the Department of such movements within four days of the movement taking place. This applies to all holdings irrespective of the farm’s stocking rate.

The requirement to record movements within four days is seen as a way to clamp down on so-called ‘paper movements’ of organic nutrients such as slurry and farmyard manure.

Once a movement has been recorded the Department will then share this information with local authorities or county council offices no later than the next working day after the movement has been declared with the Department.

This is to provide an opportunity for local authorities to carry out periodic inspections.

Recording the movement

The movement can be recorded by a farmer or a Farm Advisory System (FAS) adviser approved to act on the farmer’s behalf. There are two main ways for farmers to notify the Department of an export movement or import verification – through the Department’s MyAgfood.ie portal or the Department’s nutrient movement app.

The app is available to download via the QR code and is also available to download at: https://nitrates-exports-ui.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/

The following is a step by step guide to recording or verifying movements via MyAgfood.ie:

  • Login to your agfood.ie account.
  • Navigate down to ‘Nitrogen and phosphorus statements’.
  • For exports of organic nutrients click the ‘Exports’ in the bar at the top of the webpage
  • Click on ‘Create export’ to record the movement.
  • For those accepting a movement, select your business ID (herd number), enter the date range that the movement has taken place within and then confirm the movement.

    • Slurry application rules

    Farmers with a grassland stocking rate of upwards of 100kg organic nitrogen per hectare in the previous calendar year are obliged to apply slurry via low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment. For example farmers who had a grassland stocking rate of above 100kg organic nitrogen (N/ha) in 2025 must apply slurry with LESS equipment in 2026.

    Farmers will unfortunately not receive notification of this requirement and it is up to themselves to seek this information through the nitrogen and phosphorus statements available on MyAgfood.ie for their holding.

    The use of LESS is required for all pig slurry applications. And where livestock manure is being applied to arable land, the use of LESS equipment is a requirement, unless the livestock manure is incorporated into soil within 24 hours after application.

    The only caveat to the above rules according to the Department of Agriculture is “in the case of grassland, where, for operator health and safety reasons, it would be inappropriate to comply with the requirement to use LESS due to land within a grassland parcel sloping steeply. In this scenario it is permitted to spread cattle slurry close to the ground using a downward-facing splashplate”.

    BISS slope layers

    The Department of Agriculture published new maps earlier this year showing lands which are categorised as sloping steeply with an incline of 15% or 20%.

    The definition of steeply sloping according to Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Regulations is “ground which has an average incline of 20% or more in the case of grassland or 15% or more in the case of other land”.

    The maps can be accessed via the mapping facility on the Basic Income Support for Sustainability portal.