Letters have been issued this week to 3,500 dairy farmers asking them to declare which nutrient excretion rate band is applicable to their herd of cows for 2025.

The Department of Agriculture has warned farmers that their cows will be assigned, by default, to the highest excretion rate band of 106kg N/cow/year for 2025 if they don't confirm what band they're in.

Information must be submitted by the 31 of December 2025 to confirm the 2025 excretion rate band.

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How to confirm

There are two ways to confirm your 2025 dairy excretion rate band to the Department.

ICBF has developed an application on their website which combines dairy cow numbers with milk purchaser data, to confirm a dairy herd’s excretion rate band.

This website will therefore calculate and advise you what ‘band’ your herd will fall into depending on the option chosen.

A dairy farmer can select their cow band and share this information with the Department by simply clicking the ‘Submit to DAFM’ button on the screen.

This data will not be transferred to the Department without the farmer/their advisor clicking the submit button.

This screen is still available for ALL dairy herds to view on a laptop or personal computer.

Alternatively, farmers can provide the Department (c/o, Nitrates Section, Water and Air Quality Division, Johnstown Castle, Wexford) with a completed Nitrates Banding Milk Purchaser Form 2025 and the necessary supporting milk purchaser statements to allow the Department to confirm your dairy herd’s excretion rate band.

Further information on this approach, including a template for completion by you and your milk purchaser(s) is available on the Department’s website at: www.gov.ie/nitrates.

In the last two years 98% of dairy farmers confirmed their dairy band using Option 1 above.

If you ceased supplying milk prior to 31 of March 2025, a letter should be submitted from your milk purchaser, confirming the date (month and year), when your herd ceased milking.