Ban on spreading farmyard manure until mid-January

The closed period for the spreading of farmyard manure (FYM) comes into play from this Saturday 1 November.

Farmers are no longer allowed to spread FYM until mid-January.

Farmers in zone A are banned from applying farmyard manure until 13 January and those in zone B are prohibited from spreading it until 16 January.

Anyone in zone C is not allowed to apply FYM until 1 February.

Zone A is counties Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

Counties Clare, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath are in zone B and zone C counties are Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan.

Soiled water

All dairy farmers are also banned from spreading soiled water for the month of December, regardless of their location in the country.

Under the current nitrates action programme, all milk producers must have a minimum of 31 days soiled water storage capacity on the holding and this storage must be in place by 1 December 2025.

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