Advisers have called on the Department of Agriculture to monitor the fertiliser database and ensure it is updated by co-ops and merchants once fertiliser is bought by a farmer.
Some fertiliser suppliers are lagging two to three months behind in updating the register once fertiliser is purchased while some suppliers have not updated the register at all in 2025, advisers have claimed.
Agricultural consultant Tom Canning has said that advisers are “operating in a vacuum” and can’t rely on the database to advise farmers on their chemical fertiliser limits.
“This database is a complete mess. We can’t stand over the figures because co-ops and merchants are not updating the system,” he said.
“So, when a farmer asks us how much fertiliser he can buy, we can only take it as we see it on the screen.
“If a farmer gets a penalty, they’re going to blame us straight away.”
Meanwhile an adviser in east Cork told the Irish Farmers Journal that when dealing with a farmer this week who bought fertiliser from three suppliers, only two had updated the purchases on the system.
“I asked the farmer to get the invoice and it turned out he had already purchased his allowance for nitrogen. We’re trying to play off a system that’s not up-to-date and the farmer is telling you that it is up-to-date,” he said.
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