The €10 million soil sampling programme launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, earlier this year is ‘hopefully’ going to start in the coming weeks.
That’s according to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) official, Jack Nolan, who was speaking at a webinar which focused on the draft Nitrates Action Plan (NAP).
The NAP includes maximum fertiliser rates; manure storage requirements; and periods when manures cannot be spread, among other regulations.
With regard to the opening date for applications to the soil sampling programme, Nolan said: “It was announced in the budget last year under the programme for government that there would be a commitment to soil health and improving soil fertility.
“€10 million would be allocated to a free soil sampling programme for farmers. The tender was awarded a few weeks ago and in the next couple of weeks, hopefully, the programme will start,” he added.
Soil sampling applicants
Nolan continued: “Farmers will be able to apply on agfood.ie. On the programme itself, it will cover major and trace elements and carbon, so it will give farmers an accurate reflection of what’s happening in their soil.
“Soil health is so important and something we haven’t focused on enough in the past. We probably get criticised for reducing the nitrogen allowances and yet, as Bernard Harris [Deparment of Agriculture official] pointed out, we aren’t using enough lime, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
“So there are opportunities here to improve on this, and this is what the government has identified and we would encourage as many farmers as possible to apply.
“If you apply, there isn’t a guarantee you will get in. There will be only so many that will get in, but the key thing is that any farmer that does get in and gets results back, to make sure and use them.”