Tillage farmers were delighted to be back among the crops in Oak Park for the open day last week. But I’m told one of the stations caused some upset – a display board with dairy cows on it.

The board in question compared nitrate levels in waters in two catchments – Castledockrell (66% tillage) and Timoleague (85% dairy), both of which are on light but very different soil types.

The Castledockrell catchment had higher average nitrate levels.

The complaints centred around the fact that two sectors were being compared in a way as to pit them against one another.

The information presented failed to acknowledge that tillage area had declined, while distilling barley and cover crop area has increased in the catchment, both of which should help to decrease nitrate use and leaching. This is all while cow numbers have increased.

The Dealer wonders if the Moorepark or Grange open days will feature a comparison of the carbon footprints of dairy or beef with tillage?