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As revealed on Monday, there will be no blanket extension to the slurry deadline.
Instead, farmers who need to spread after the deadline will be treated on a case-by-case basis. A farmer or their planner must contact the Department of Agriculture’s nitrates section on 053 916 3444 with their herd number, as well as their concerns.
Contact must be made by Saturday 14 October. Farmers will be advised to only spread a “volume of slurry necessary to ensure adequate storage capacity for the remainder of the closed period”.
Farmers will also be advised that “any spreading should occur as soon as good spreading conditions exist”.
However, farmers will be “prioritised for inspection in the immediate future to ensure compliance with the nitrates regulations”.
This means that farmers who need to spread slurry and who contact the Department to spread outside the closed period are more likely to receive an on-farm inspection to see if they have enough storage capacity on the farm.
Inspections will be carried out by local authorities.
Farmers must have their slurry spread by midnight on 14 October with the closed period coming into effect from 15 October. It will stay closed until January and February depending on the farmer’s county.
Nitrates directive
IFA’s environment chair Thomas Cooney warned that the farmers who apply to have slurry spread after the deadline must not be subject to increased inspections and penalties.
The reasoning for not having a blanket extension relates to the delicate situation regarding the ongoing renegotiation of the nitrates directive.
If Ireland is seen by Brussels to be repeatedly seeking an extension to the slurry deadline, questions are likely to be raised by policymakers in Europe regarding slurry storage capacity in Ireland.
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