2025 nitrates derogation: How many applications in your county?
Over 7,100 farmers have applied for the 2025 nitrates derogation, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has confirmed.
In figures provided to Agriland, the department noted that 7,135 applications were received, including some manual applications.
Manual applications are accepted where there is a change of entity taking place, or where a herd owner is awaiting a herd number to be issued by the department.
All other applications for the nitrates derogation must be submitted online.
The figures for this year are a decrease on the derogation application numbers for 2024, which were 7,238 (this figure reflected online applications only).
In the figures provided by the department, the exact number of applications from counties with less than five application are withheld.
This is to protect the confidentiality of the applicant, the department said.
The department noted that these application figures may change as the process of validating applications takes place.
The county-by-county breakdown of nitrates derogation applications for 2025 is as follows:
| County | No. of applications |
|---|---|
| Carlow | 88 |
| Cavan | 136 |
| Clare | 71 |
| Cork | 2,115 |
| Donegal | 105 |
| Dublin | * |
| Galway | 185 |
| Kerry | 392 |
| Kildare | 75 |
| Kilkenny | 547 |
| Laois | 264 |
| Leitrim | * |
| Limerick | 446 |
| Longford | 26 |
| Louth | 89 |
| Mayo | 54 |
| Meath | 209 |
| Monaghan | 225 |
| Offaly | 173 |
| Roscommon | 15 |
| Sligo | 13 |
| Tipperary | 911 |
| Waterford | 378 |
| Westmeath | 103 |
| Wexford | 419 |
| Wicklow | 91 |
| Total | 7,135 |
As can be seen, Co. Cork saw by far the most applications, with 2,115.
This was followed by counties Tipperary, at 911, and Kilkenny, at 547.
The figures for counties Dublin and Leitrim were not provided. Apart from those counties, the fewest applications came from counties Sligo (13), Roscommon (15), and Longford (26).
The online application system for the 2025 nitrates derogation opened on March 20.
Over the last month, the department has been identifying farmers who will have to move to the lower nitrates derogation stocking rate of 220kg livestock manure nitrogen (N) per hectare from December.
The department said this was to “facilitate” the issuing of individualised letters to “potentially impacted nitrates derogation applicants of their whole farm organic nitrogen limit for 2025”.
The letters were being issued to herds with stocking rates greater than 170kgN/ha in 2024 (prior to slurry exports), and those herds that applied for a nitrates derogation in 2023 or 2024 that have at least one Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) parcel that is moving to the 220kgN/ha derogation stocking rate limit from December 2025.
The department also published the maximum nitrates derogation stocking rate limits map for 2025.
“This map has been provided to communicate the maximum information currently available to facilitate planning by farmers and their advisors,” the department said at the time.
