As silage making season gets underway across the country, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has reminded farmers about the storage requirements for silage bales.
The Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations, known as ‘GAP regulations’, came into force on March 2022 and gave legal effect to the Nitrates Directive and Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme (NAP).
The GAP Regulations provide a set of measures to ensure the protection of waters, including drinking water sources, against pollution caused by nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural sources.
The set of measures also provide some safeguards against possible harmful impacts to water quality arising from agricultural activity, including the “storage of silage bales”.
Silage bales
The DAFM said that as of this year, silage bales, including high dry matter silage or haylage, can only be stored a maximum of two bales high, in the absence of adequate facilities for the collection and storage of any effluent that may arise.
Bales must continue to be stored at least 20m from surface water or a drinking water abstraction point, as required under the previous GAP regulations.
The department said that these requirements also apply to the storage of haylage.
“Farmers with low dry matter silage bales should consider themselves whether it is appropriate to stack their bales up to two high in the absence of appropriate effluent collection facilities,” it said.
Safety
Meanwhile, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has issued a road safety appeal as silage cutting season gets underway across the country.
The farming organisation is urging anyone driving farm machinery, especially on rural roads, to reduce their speed, not to get distracted and understand that around every corner could be a neighbouring family or friend out for a walk or a cycle.
It also appealed to motorists travelling behind farm machinery to be patient and only overtake when it is safe to do so.