Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has urged farmers to register for Zone 2 of its Soil Nutrient Health Scheme before the end of the month.
Farmers in Co. Fermanagh, west Co. Armagh and south Co. Tyrone are invited to register for Zone 2 of the scheme before the deadline of August 31, 2023.
DAERA hailed the scheme as “world-leading” and said farmers will walk away with a new understanding of their soil nutrients, pH levels and the carbon stored in their soils.
“The scheme will help you with nutrient management planning and guidance in preventing run off and nutrient loss to watercourses,” it said.
The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme is managed by the Agri-food Biosciences Institute (AFBI) on behalf of DAERA.
Director of environment and marine sciences at AFBI, Pieter-Jan Schön, said the scheme will provide farmers with “important information on soil nutrient and pH levels for each field on their farm”.
“Participation will also give these farmers access to an online portal where they can view their results and print off their farm maps.
“Farmers will receive maps showing areas at high risk of runoff and nutrient loss to watercourses and a first baseline estimate of the amount of carbon stored in their soils, hedgerows and trees.”
This information, he said, will help farmers match nutrient applications to crop needs more accurately which will help to increase efficiency while also reducing the farm’s environmental footprint.
“To date 2,440 farms have registered in Zone 2 and we do not want any farmers to miss out on this opportunity to get a completely free soil analysis baseline for their farms,” he said.
DAERA’s permanent secretary, Katrina Godfrey, said the scheme has seen good interest so far and urged more farmers to register, as the deadline will not be extended beyond the end of the month.
“I urge all farm businesses within Zone 2 to register at their earliest opportunity and not miss out on participation in this important scheme which aims to improve sustainability and efficiency in the farming sector,” she said.
“It is also important for farmers to note that participation in the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme will be a condition for future Farm Sustainability Payments, which will replace the Basic Payment Scheme.”
Zone 1
Zone 1 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme was launched in 2022 and over 90% of farmers in the southeast of Northern Ireland are taking part.
Those in the scheme also have access to online training from the department’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), which helps them to interpret their soil analysis reports and prepare soil nutrient management plans.
Those who have fields in Zone 2 are asked to register as soon as possible for the scheme, which can be done through a Government Gateway Account via the DAERA website.
This £37 million DAERA-funded scheme is open to all 27,000 farm businesses in Northern Ireland, with a potential for up to 700,000 fields to be sampled by the end of the project in 2026.