Farmers should be aware of the new deadline for spreading slurry this year. The closed period for land spreading of slurry will not commence until 31 October instead of the normal 15 October this year.

The extension to the spreading open period was given due to the highly unusual weather conditions in the spring and summer of 2018.

Derogation farmers should note that 50% of their slurry should have been spread already before 15 July this year.

After that date, the remainder of slurry must be spread by low-emission technology.

These rules are set out in the nitrates regulations.

Spreading chemical fertiliser is now prohibited until the new year.

The specific date spreading can recommence depends on the zone your farm is located.

The final date for spreading farmyard manure has not changed this year, with the closed period starting on 1 November 2018.

Farmers should, as always, only spread slurry or manure when land is in good enough condition to do so.

It should not be spread when land is waterlogged, flooded or likely to flood, frozen or if heavy rain is forecast within 48 hours.

According to the Department, you must not store farmyard manure in a field during the prohibited spreading period for farmyard manure.

You can store it in a field during the spreading season, but you must store it in a compact heap and you cannot store it within certain buffer zones, outlined on the Department’s website.

Farmyard manure is the only organic fertiliser that may be stored in a field during the spreading season.

GLAS record sheets

Remember, if you are participating in GLAS, you must maintain the record sheets for the duration of the GLAS contract.

The Department says these record sheets will issue at the beginning of each year until the end of the contract.

All record sheets should be retained for the duration of the contract.

To fill out the sheets, use the GLAS application summary, including maps, confirming the GLAS actions that you were approved to undertake. This will make the job much easier.