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The Ulster Farmers Union is reminding farmers of new regulations in Northern Ireland for slurry spreading for the month of February. Under the rule changes, buffer zones have been increased from 10m to 15m away from waterways and from 20m to 30m from lakes.
The changes follow a review of the Nitrates Action Programme, which saw the new rules come into effect last October. The amount of slurry that can be spread at any one time has also been reduced to 30m3/ha (2,700 gallons/acre).
Penalties
“Farmers and contractors should take care to comply with these new rules to protect their area payments as any breaches could result in penalties,” said Victor Chestnutt, UFU deputy president.
“As the closed period finishes this week, many farmers are under pressure to spread slurry to relieve storage difficulties. The UFU has always opposed the inflexibility of farming by calendar dates and the strain this creates, however, we urge farmers to make themselves familiar with the new rules to avoid penalties and protect waterways.”
Exports
These new restrictions will only apply during the month of February and 1-15 October every year.
Farmers who exported organic manures to other farmers during 2019 must submit a register of those exports by 31 January 2020. The registers should be submitted online to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
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