The deadline for farmers to confirm their excretion band rates under the banding aspect of the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) is fast approaching.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has issued a reminder to farmers that the extended closing date is this Friday (March 31) for confirmation of their 2023 dairy band.
The new NAP for this year introduces the practice of banding. Prior to the introduction of banding, each dairy cow in the country was assigned a standard figure of 89kg of nitrogen (N)/head.
Under this year’s changes, herds will be placed in one of three excretion bands depending on their average milk kg/cow.
These three bands are as follows:
Bands Milk yields Excretion rate Band 1 <4,500kg of milk 80kg organic N/cow Band 2 4,500-6,500kg of milk 92kg organic N/cow Band 3 >6,500kg of milk 106kg organic N/cow
The N banding portal on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) website is open to all dairy farmers.
Provided that the farmer has given permission for their co-op to share their milk purchaser data with ICBF, they can identify and confirm their associated dairy herd band for 2023.
So far, almost 12,000 farmer have availed of the ICBF portal to confirm their band. Almost three quarters of these farmers are in the middle band, resulting in a marginal increase in their cow’s nutrient excretion rate compared to last year.
For farmers that have not consented to their data being shared with ICBF, they are reminded to complete and submit the paper form, along with copies of their milk statements, which must be sent to the department to calculate and confirm their dairy cow excretion rate.
This form is available to download through the department’s website.
Meanwhile, the closing date for applying for a nitrates derogation is also approaching.
The deadline for applying for a derogation is 12:00p.m (noon) on Friday, April 14.
Farmers who applied for a nitrates derogation in 2022 are also reminded that they must submit 2022 fertiliser accounts by the revised closing date.