A proposed update to the Nitrates Directive that would allow the nutrients in slurry be classed as chemical fertiliser after undergoing processing does not represent a quick fix if derogation stocking rates were to be dropped.

That is what top Department of Agriculture officials told the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture when asked about the RENURE proposals now undergoing three months of MEP and member state scrutiny.

The plans would allow farmers export slurry before taking back in the slurry’s nutrients after processing, which would be counted as chemical fertiliser for regulatory purposes and not organic manure.

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However, Department officials stated that the proposals would require significant investment in slurry processing facilities before the move could be a runner for Ireland, warning also that scale may be an issue for any rollout here.

“We are not at that level of processing in Ireland that I would suggest RENURE is going to be of any great advantage,” senior Department inspector Bill Callanan said in response to a question from Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice.

“Yes, there is opportunities in terms of the progression of that technology and the development of anaerobic digestion and consequent further processing which I understand has to apply.”

The question came a week after the nitrates committee, on which each member state has a seat, gave its backing to RENURE.

“The amendment to the Nitrates Directive that was voted on last week in Brussels related to three processes that had been to effectively create product that will behave very similar to chemical fertiliser nitrogen,” senior Department inspector Ted Massey added.

“But they are three very capital-intensive processes and we don’t have a manure processing industry here.”

Ireland’s grazing systems may also find themselves not well-suited to slurry processing, Massey continued.

“Our system is based on animals out at grass, nutrient recycling within the holding, which is a very sustainable system,” he stated.

“I don’t foresee, in the short-term at least, us having the capacity or volume of nutrients to justify the level of investment that will be required to create the processed manure products, in terms of that RENURE amendment.”