Last week, we reported on some of the key measures being proposed by the State’s nitrates expert group for inclusion in the next nitrates action programme.
The key proposal for dairy farmers is around the milking platform stocking rate.
Various suggestions have been mooted over the last few years as to how this should be regulated. In fairness to the expert group, this proposal around ensuring slurry is moved to the out blocks is the most reasonable and practical of them all.
The expert group is proposing that shallow cultivation of stubble ground is required on tillage land where crops are harvested before the end of August, even where winter cereals are being planned. What’s practical one year may not be practical the next, depending on the weather and how the harvest is progressing. I think everyone agrees that measures are needed to reduce nutrient losses from all sectors and that some tillage areas are particularly sensitive as they are in free draining areas.
The challenge for the Government must be to strike a balance between introducing the correct measures in the correct place, while supporting tillage farmers to enable them to carry out these measures at a time of year when they are already stretched.
Read more on pages 32-33 and 36.
SHARING OPTIONS