The decision by the Department of Agriculture not to publish its most up-to-date figures for farmers' nitrates and phosphorus use has been described as “an astonishing omission” by Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) deputy president Denis Drennan.

Drennan said that the ICMSA is “calling on the Department to immediately publish the most up-to-date figures and then provide opportunities for regular updates and checks”.

“In previous years, farmers were able to check online early in July and at regular intervals thereafter, allowing them to adjust their stocking rate accordingly,” he explained.

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‘Flying blind’

The ICMSA deputy president described how the Department’s failure to supply these ‘guide’ figures meant that farmers were now “flying blind” in terms of their nitrates and phosphorus impact on stocking rates.

He stated that these farmers could be “in a situation where breaching limits could have enormously significant consequences”.

“In 2021, farmers had eight opportunities to check their N and P usage. So far this year, we’ve had none,” Drennan said.

He added that it has “amounted to telling people to be mindful of limits that they could not establish or check”.

‘Inability to inform’

“Farmers need to know where they are at, both in terms of general room to manoeuvre and specifically on issues relating to TAMS and maybe the need to go to LESS,” the ICMSA deputy president said.

The Department’s inability to inform individual farmers of where they stand in relation to the limits is “absolutely chaotic and inexcusable”, Drennan warned.

“Farmers are being asked to obey a speed limit without being supplied with a speedometer. The Department must redeploy resources immediately so that the relevant data [is] made available to the farmers concerned,” he concluded.