Call for 30-day extension for fertiliser, slurry and manure spreading
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has been called on to provide a 30-day extension to relevant periods for spreading chemical fertiliser, slurry and farmyard manure.
Farmers have until September 15 to spread chemical fertiliser, October 1 to spread slurry, and November 1 to spread farmyard manure (FYM).
However, concerns have been raised on a number of occasions that the drought conditions over several weeks in late summer made deciding when and if to spread very challenging.
Now, the Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) has called on the minister to consult with Teagasc and other stakeholders to "determine without undue delay why an extension to 30 days to all imminent nitrates dates this year should not be agreed".
The farm group said that grass growth is only starting again in many areas following recent rainfall.
"The volume of grass grown this year is considerably down on previous years and could not have been reasonably predicted. This has created problems for many dry stock farmers," the IBLA said.
"The drought conditions for the period of mid-June to the end of August resulted in drastically reduced application of chemical nitrogen and cattle slurry on farms, as farms made common sense and correct farm management decision not to do so," the association added.
The IBLA said in a statement that these farms now have stores or tanks that still need to be emptied ahead of the winter period.
"This is most notable in badly drought-affected areas in the south and south east of the country.
"As grassland recovers following recent rainfall all focus should now be on ensuring as much grass as possible is grown for the remainder of the growing season," the farm group said.
The IBLA added that high soil temperatures following the hot spells over the last two months are "likely to extend this year's growing season".
"Supporting and maximising this growth potential this year with extended periods of chemical nitrogen, cattle slurry and FYM use is appropriate."
The association said it would "unreasonable to do nothing and sleep walk into a fodder crisis as the options of fodder from the UK and...EU member states is not an option this year due to a similar issues in those countries".
"The same volume of cattle slurry and [farmyard manure] has to be spread as every other year. The prudent thing to do is extend the spreading period to allow for graduated application rates," the IBLA added.
"Leaving that decision to the last minute would not be helpful. Allow farmers to plan."
The group acknowledged that any extension put on the table would come with a responsibility on farmers to continue to protect watercourses and use "prudent judgement regarding local ground conditions while focussing on the objective to grow more winter fodder".
