Under 600 farmers applied for a slurry spreading extension this year, up from the 80 or so that applied last year.

This highlights the difficult weather conditions which farmers had to contend with in the lead up to the deadline for spreading.

Farmers with slurry spreading concerns were asked to contact the Nitrates Section of the Department of Agriculture, with details of their flooding/trafficability situation, their herd number and other relevant data in advance of the closed period.

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For farmers who have yet to avail of the deadline flexibility, the advice is:

  • To spread only that volume of slurry necessary to ensure adequate storage capacity for the remainder of the closed period.
  • That any spreading should occur as soon as good spreading conditions exist.
  • That they would be prioritised for inspection by Local Authorities in the immediate future to ensure compliance with the Nitrates Regulations.
  • That assessment of overall on-farm storage capacity could be part of that inspection process.
  • That the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would subsequently contact the farmers to ascertain and record the date(s) on which this additional spreading takes place.

    • The Nitrates Section of DAFM is currently contacting all the farmers who registered their concerns to ascertain whether they availed of the limited flexibility on offer during the recent more settled weather and it is hoped to have an analysis of this complete by next week.

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