Farmers in certain parts of the country are being hit by the enforcement of tachograph legislation that can restrict the movement of tractors for work such as the haulage of hay, silage, straw bales and livestock between farms.

The legislation brought into Irish law in 2011 as part of a statutory instrument (SI 386 of 2011), by the then Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, means agricultural tractors with a design speed of over 40km/hr without a tachograph fitted, are restricted to a range of not more than 100km from the farm or farm-contractor base.

Gardaí in certain parts of the county are enforcing the legislation more vigorously than in the past. This is now making it illegal for some farmers and contractors to transport bales from tillage regions of Kildare, Laois and Meath to the western counties, using a tractor and trailer.

They are forcing this service onto haulage contractors. Gardaí in the west have given warnings to farmers and contractors operating with loads of straw and cattle where they suspect drivers are exceeding the tachograph derogation limits.

Typical distances that exceed these limits include a journey from Stradbally to Carrigallen, Co Leitrim or Listowel to Cashel, Co Tipperary. Both journeys are regular routes for the movement of round straw bales and both exceed the 100km (62 miles) limit.

The movement of live animals is equally restrictive. Tractors are allowed to transport live animals from farms to local markets and vice versa or from markets to local slaughterhouses within a radius of 100km (62 miles), without the need to be fitted with a tachograph.

The legislation does not allow for the transport of live animals directly from farms to meat factories where the maximum permissible mass of the combination is more than 3.5t.

If enforced, this would restrict many farmers from delivering cattle, pigs or sheep directly from farms to many of the factories in the country, impacting on their opportunity for more competitive pricing.

Agricultural tractors have been given a derogation in EU legislation, from the fitting of a tachograph, but only if they operate within this 100km distance limit of the farm or farm-contractor base at speeds of under 40km/hr. More than 50% of tractors now sold in Ireland are rated for a speed of over 40km/hr.

Where tractors move outside these ranges of speed and distance, they are required to be fitted with a tachograph device commonly used in trucks, which records the hours of continuous driving.

It is interesting that milk collection lorries, which call on farms for the collection of fresh milk, have a derogation from the tachograph requirement when collecting milk from farms for delivery to milk processors.

The need for a tachograph does not necessarily demand the need for a tractor and trailer to undergo a Department of the Environment (DOE) test or demand the use of white diesel and a truck driving licence, although this is being implied in some cases as being linked to the tachograph requirement.

Individual EU countries have the flexibility to decide on the specifics of the derogation. In the case of Germany, they have agreed to a 150km (93 miles) working radius.

In April of this year, the live animal movement restriction was raised from a distance of 50 to 100km.

IFA Environment and Rural Affairs Chairman Harold Kingston has called on An Garda Síochána to pragmatically implement the regulations and on the Department of Transport to review the existing legislation to ensure farmers who sell farm produce from their farms are not restricted in the normal course of their business.