Thousands of dairy farmers face restrictions on fertiliser application rates if sweeping proposals to cut nutrient applications on milking platforms are to be adopted.

Ireland’s Nitrates Expert Group wants dairy farmers to be required to declare slurry movements to their “outblocks” to prove that they comply with standalone nutrient limits for the milking platform.

Drystock and tillage farmers are also in the firing line for tougher water quality rules. It is proposed to cut fertiliser allowances for “certain grassland farmers” who have been using low-emissions slurry spreading and clover, and organic manure restrictions on tillage farms. For more, see pages 4 and 8.

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