A hill farmer who has spent sheep dip on their holding is facing a massive bill that could run into thousands of euro to dispose of the material.

“I have 1,000 litres of dip in my yard, but I can’t move it,” the farmer told the Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference, as he does not have a slurry pit or access to a slurry spreader, which are deemed essential for the safe disposal of spent sheep dip.

The option of moving the dip to a neighbour was also ruled out “because slurry spreaders are not licensed to transport dip on the road”, the farmer explained.

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“The only person who is licensed to transport dip is a waste disposal company. And they can’t transport it to a neighbour; they can only transport it to a treatment facility. And that treatment facility is in Dublin,” he pointed out.

“And it is €1,500 per 1,000 litres to dispose of that dip in Dublin, plus the transport to Dublin,” the farmer claimed.

“So, the Department of Agriculture is telling every farmer to dip their sheep and get rid of itch – there is a whole scheme out there at the minute that’s tied around it – but there is no solution for farmers looking to dispose of dip outside of taking it over the road to the neighbour who has a slurry pit,” the farmer maintained.

“And if you have a slurry pit but all your farm is designated as heavy soil, what do you do then?” he asked.

Shaun Roarty of Teagasc accepted that it was a difficult issue for many hill farmers and a challenge for the sector.

“It is a veterinary product up to the point where you use it, but after that its actually classified as a hazardous product,” Roarty explained.

Teagasc guidelines state that spent sheep dip “should be mixed 1:3 parts either with slurry or water and land spread by a tanker at a rate not exceeding 5,000 litres/ha (440 gallons per acre) of spent dip”.

“Under no circumstances should spent dip be disposed of if there is no facility or slurry tanker available to hold or spread the dip safely,” the Teagasc guidelines state.

“In hill areas some farmers may not have access to a slurry tank on the farm, however, sheep dip must be disposed of to a tank for dilution and spreading,” Teagasc insists.

In a presentation to the conference, Roarty stated that some sheep dips are 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup.

Following the conference the president of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA), Pheilim Molloy, said the farm body had lobbied the Department of Agriculture to make grants available to hill farmers under TAMS to assist in the provision of storage tanks for spent sheep dip.