The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association has outlined five of its priorities for the upcoming mid-term review of the nitrates action plan (NAP) due to commence at national level over the coming months.

The association is seeking financial supports for those who will face derogation stocking rate cuts from next year, as well as flexibility on cow banding figures for low-protein rations.

It is also looking for a review of the Department of Agriculture’s technical table change which saw the nitrogen content of slurry halve, effectively doubling the volume of slurry which has to be exported to reduce organic nitrogen levels.

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“These are measures that are completely within the gift of the Minister and which he can introduce as part of the NAP review and in Budget 2024,” ICMSA president Pat McCormack said.

Ideas

“Minister McConalogue has said he’s up for ideas on what can be done to mitigate the disaster his non-defence has inflicted.

“Well, [the] ICMSA has just given him five measures that will move the situation forward in a modest but demonstrable way and we’re asking now, well in advance, for indications of support and commitment from the Minister and speedy implementation of same.”

The ICMSA’s five priority proposals are:

  • 1 - To disregard the first 100 days of a calf’s life for stocking rate calculation purposes.

  • 2 - To allow for a reduction in a herd’s nitrogen extraction rate and nitrates band when a low-protein concentrate is fed over the summer months. The ICMSA stated that each 1% reduction in concentrate protein content should be the equivalent of a 1kg N/cow reduction in nitrates excretion.
  • 3 - The review of the nitrogen content of slurry, with an allowance for a farmer who tests slurry in an approved lab to use their individual slurry test result.
  • 4 - A relook of the exclusion period for farmers who make a genuine or minor error from it currently stands at a two-year derogation ban.
  • 5 - A package of measures in Budget 2024 to ensure viability for farmers who are faced with reducing stocking rates as a result of nitrates changes they did not know were coming when they planned their businesses.

    • Proposals which ‘make sense’

    McCormack stated that the measures put on the table by his association tick the box both on improving water quality and for farmers.

    “[The] ICMSA put forward a number of practical proposals that make sense from a farmer viewpoint, but also make sense from an environmental and animal welfare perspective,” he continued.

    “We now need the Department to look at these speedily and work towards their introduction,” he said.