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Various factors, including a wet December, means that just over half of fields in the first zone of DAERA’s soil nutrient health scheme will have soil sampling completed by the end of the closed period for spreading slurry of 31 January 2023.
Across Zone 1, which covers farms in Co Down, as well as parts of South Antrim and East / South Armagh, farmers have registered a total of 151,000 fields to be included in the soil scheme. However, the Department has confirmed that only around 80,000 fields are likely to be sampled by the end of January.
The scheme is managed by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), with the sampling work contracted out to Belfast-based RPS Group.
Over the next three to four weeks, RPS will prioritise those farm businesses with lowland and intensively managed fields. Upland fields will be sampled after the beginning of March.
Those farmers in Zone 1 who have applied for the scheme and intend applying slurry or fertiliser in early February, but have not yet had their land sampled, should contact RPS using the email address: afbi@rpsgroup.com to see if they can be prioritised.
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