The decision by the Government to extend the window for hedge-cutting and the burning of gorse is logical. The move recognises the fact that farming by strict calendar dates can actually be prohibitive to improving environmental practices.

A similar level of flexibility should be extended to dates for slurry spreading.

Extending the dates for gorse burning will allow farmers on marginal land more flexibility in tackling land eligibility issues.

Listen to news correspondent Paul Mooney's explanation of the new measures in our podcast below: