Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has described measures to increase on-farm slurry storage capacity as a “win-win” in light of the changes to the nitrates derogation limit.
Any farmer in a contract which shows that nutrients have been exported and received will be able to benefit from a 70% Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) grant rate for new tanks.
Measures to increase slurry storage capacity under Budget 2024, which was announced yesterday (Tuesday, October 10), provide “very strong” support for the dairy sector, he said.
From the start of 2024, most of the country will see the nitrates derogation cut from 250kg of organic nitrogen (N) per hectare to 220kg N/ha due to poor water quality.
This will put significant pressure on dairy farms which are between these two values, with the exportation of slurry seen as the most expedient way of offsetting their organic N stocking rate.
Slurry storage
There is a “significant potential” to achieve a more efficient use of nutrients by providing the infrastructure to enable farmers, who could use more nutrients, to receive and store them, the minister said.
While most of the time the slurry is spread when it arrives, he said that this is not always the case and the changes will allow farmers to build storage on their farm and use the slurry when needed.
This enables farmers who are receiving slurry to reduce their need for chemical fertiliser, and ensures that farmers who have excess slurry are compliant with new derogation changes, he said.
A new separate TAMS investment ceiling for slurry storage tanks has also been announced, as well as the continued accelerated capital allowances on slurry storage.
By separating the slurry storage capacity investment from all other investments, the minister said that farmers’ capacity to apply for other investments is not impacted.
Dairy sector
Minister McConalogue told Agriland that price remains the most important aspect for all sectors, and described signs of “recovery and improvement” in the dairy markets as “very encouraging”.
There is no funding allocated for a voluntary dairy reduction scheme under the budget for next year, however, the minister continues to engage with farm representatives on the topic.
“Obviously, we have many measures which are going to be significant [in] reducing our emissions over the next year, [and] we are setting those out in a very significant way,” he said.
The proposal from the Food Vision Dairy Group to look at a potential dairy reduction scheme was met with “very significant opposition” from a big majority of farm organisations, he added.