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The 15 October closing date is not just sufficient to allow farmers to get their slurry out, Sinn Féin’s Martin Kenny has said.
He said that the weather forecast for the coming period is bad, and we don’t want to see the environmental damage that will occur if slurry is spread in wet conditions.
“I have put down a priority question to the Minister for Agriculture for next week on this issue.
“Many farmers have been unable even to get their second cut of silage completed due to the rain we have been having over the past six to eight weeks.
“In those circumstances, spreading slurry is impossible and the Minister [Creed] will have to act to help resolve this situation.”
No extension
On Wednesday the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, who have responsibility for the slurry spreading deadline, ruled out an extension to the 15 October deadline.
The Department said it was ‘premature’ to consider an extension to the deadline but that the situation will be kept under review by both the Departments of Housing and Agriculture.
Cattle rescued from Co Armagh slurry pit
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