Changes to when farmers can spread slurry and fertilizer could be on the way according to a senior Government minister.

Speaking at the Tipperary North IFA AGM last week, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly confirmed that he is willing to look at making changes.

Responding to a question from an attendee who noted that he would have been able to spread slurry in November when the spreading window was closed, but his land is now too wet to spread when the window is open again.

“Calendar farming is something that needs to be relooked at,” Minister Kelly said.

“We need to possibly look at extending the period for spreading slurry… I think it’s timely to carry out a review of slurry spreading,” Minister Kelly added. He said any changes would need to be agreed each year to take full account of the weather and growing conditions.

The slurry, farmyard manure (FYM) and chemical fertilizer spreading period has now reopened for all counties.

The spreading period for chemical fertilizer closed on 14 September, the slurry period closed on 15 October with the closed period for FYM spreading on 1 November.

Tipperary North IFA chairman Tim Cullinan, who chaired the AGM last week, welcomed the commitment from Minister Kelly to examine slurry and fertilizer dates.

Positive

“It was positive and welcome to hear Minister Kelly’s openness on slurry spreading dates. Calendar farming is consistently one of the biggest issues and annoyances for farmers right across the country.

“We had a very dry autumn when farmers would have been able to spread slurry and now many farmers cannot get out due to wet land. It’s totally nonsensical,” Cullinan said.