The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is considering banning splash plates for the application of slurry after proposals put forward by an independent working group earlier this week.

The recommendations highlight the need for Government and the agri-food sector to work together.

The expert group is led by the former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, Dr John Gilliland, and recommends that a splash plate ban by 2020 would help to tackle the issue of ammonia emissions in agriculture.

In a statement DAERA said: “This report makes a series of recommendations on how to address the topic of ammonia emissions from agriculture and the subsequent impact of this air pollutant on the environment, including deposition of nitrogen onto important nature sites.

“The recommendations highlight the need for Government and the agri-food sector to work together to enable farmers to achieve significant mitigation of ammonia emissions.”

Agriculture accounts for 91% of all ammonia emissions in Northern Ireland, and is seen as environmentally damaging.

Cost to farmers

However, while farmers will be keen to ensure the sustainability of farming, splash plates are one of the most common forms of slurry spreading methods available to most farmers.

There have been calls on both sides of the Irish border to step away from splash plate application due to emissions, but many farmers are deterred due to the high cost of investing in new slurry spreading equipment.

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