The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has said its staff are available at the National Ploughing Championships today (Wednesday, September 16) to assist farmers in making closing fertiliser stock declarations.

The department is located at Block 3, Row 7, Stand 135, where staff will assist farmer with declaring closing stocks.

It is a legal requirement that all professional fertiliser users, including farmers, submit an annual closing stock declaration to the National Fertiliser Database (NFD), including 'nil' declarations where no fertiliser is held.

Closing Stocks are classified as any fertiliser on hand as of midnight on September 14 each year.

The facility for declaring closing stock 2026 opened yesterday (Tuesday, September 15), and declarations must be made by October 15.

Farms and premises that have no stocks of fertiliser on hand must still make a nil declaration.

A step-by-step guide on how to declare closing stocks is available on the department’s National Fertiliser Database webpage.

Declaration of closing stock can be done by farmers, or their agents, by logging on to the MyAgFood system.

Farmers and other fertiliser users are encouraged to check their fertiliser transaction records on MyAgFood and ensure that the information recorded in respect of their farm is accurate and up to date.

Details of sales on the National Fertiliser Database are recorded by fertiliser merchants (fertiliser economic operators) and it is the responsibility of these operators to ensure the accuracy of data on the NFD in respect of their customers.

Farmers who have queries regarding purchases of fertilisers should raise concerns with their merchant directly in the first instance.

Where a farmer does have remaining fertiliser at the end of the year, the closing stock declaration should include the type of fertiliser and the quantities of each being held.

Ploughing 2026

The National Ploughing Championships continue with day 2 today in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

You can stay up to date with all the action with Agriland's live blog.

And of course, Agriland's live stream will kick off again today from 12:00p.m, bringing you interviews and panel discussions with the key people attending this year's event.