Autumn is a crucial time for water quality

Over the past few weeks, the weather has changed significantly with cooler temperatures and heavy rainfall at times.

With the change in seasons comes a change in management and many things to keep an eye on.

The first thing to note is that chemical fertiliser should not be spread. The 14 September was the last day to apply. Applying after this date can lead to a penalty on your Basic Payment.

Aside from the nitrates calendar we must also consider the weather which is now more unsettled. Heavy rain last week would have seen significant levels of fertiliser lost to water had it been spread beforehand.

Slurry

Remember, the closed period for spreading slurry starts on 8 October this year and moves to 1 October in 2023. Keep an eye on the weather forecast to get the most out of that slurry and avoid loss to water.

Soiled water cannot be applied between 21 and 31 December this year.

The soiled water storage requirements will also extend to 1 to 31 December by 2024.

Farmyard manure is a great source of phosphorus and potassium and it can be applied up to 1 November.

Nutrient loss

Anyone who was at the National Ploughing Championships last Thursday no doubt saw mucky car parks and mucky roads.

Phosphorus sticks to clay and so where clay was pulled out on to roads and will be washed away, there is a risk of phosphorus loss to water.

Where we see water coloured with clay, this is not good as it means phosphorus is being transported and lost in that clay and this will ultimately end up polluting our rivers and water.

As land gets wetter over the coming weeks and months, we must endeavour to work it and graze it in the best conditions possible. If we see cloudy water we must do something to stop P losses. This could mean moving animals to drier land or housing, leaving a wider buffer beside a watercourse, keeping soil covered or tilling in a different direction.

Watercourses should be fenced from animals. Anyone in derogation needs to have animals fenced 2m from a watercourse.

Tillage farmers will see their buffer zone widen from 2m to 3m in 2023, meaning fields being planted now should have 3m left uncultivated along watercourses.

Chemical fertiliser should not be applied within 2m of surface waters. Organic manures should not be spread within 5m of surface waters. This extends to 10m in the two weeks prior to and after the closed season.

In the 1980s in Ireland, 500 sites had really good water quality and this figure is now down significantly to just 20. Some 53% of rivers are at good or high status for water quality and Ireland does rate quite well in comparison to other European countries. However, it has dramatically declined and there is a lot of room for improvement. Agriculture can play a significant role in improving water quality along with other sectors.

If you’re a dairy farmer, remember to keep track of the measures that you are taking to improve sustainability on farm to ensure that you receive a sustainability bonus from your co-op, many of which are now paying farmers to improve their farm’s sustainability. In order to receive the 0.5c/l sustainability bonus Tirlán suppliers need to take seven actions from a list of options.

Using protected urea, incorporating clover, planting multispecies swards, planting hedgerows, grass measuring, milk recording, the use of low emission slurry spreading equipment, renewable energy generation, herd disease screening, the use of sexed semen and fencing watercourses are just some of the measures which you can choose to receive the sustainability payment.

Tirlán told the Irish Farmers Journal that in the first four weeks of registration, 25% of suppliers had declared actions and over 50% had declared more than the seven actions required. Tirlán suppliers need to declare actions by 31 October and can update after this, if needed.