The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) is calling for an extension to the period during which organic fertiliser can be applied on farmland.
The association is also calling for an extension of the 14-day cultivation rule for tillage farmers, which requires the cultivation or sowing of a crop/catch crop to take place within 14 days of harvesting.
The FCI is calling on Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien (who oversees the Nitrates Directive) and Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue (who has sole responsibility for tillage matters) to extend the time allowed to farmers under both rules.
The FCI has said that the current closing date of October 1 for application of organic fertiliser is not practical after “what can be considered to have been a 15-month winter period”.
Speaking to Agriland on our official livestream of the 2024 National Ploughing Championships, FCI chief executive Michael Moroney said: “There’s a lot of pressure on contractors to get work done. We have people sowing spring barely in the month of May.
“The end result of that is, as a consequence of that, we have a situation whereby the harvest is late. And now we have this 14-day rule in terms of cultivation and it’s virtually impossible to deliver what’s needed…under the circumstances,” Moroney added.
“We have asked the minister this week to extend the slurry spreading dates and to use the technology that is there…and there is an agreed protocol in terms of Met Éireann data, grass data… We should be able to go past October 1 for slurry spreading this year.
“There’s no one wants to spread slurry this week, in the hope of having grass, when grass has been really slow, but you’re going to be restricted to October 1, so we need that to be extended, and these are practical things that contractors and our own FCI members can deliver for Irish farmers,” Moroney said.
FCI national chairperson John Hughes echoed these views, saying: “Few farmers will not contemplate the option of applying organic fertiliser to these recovering fields and paddocks this week and next week as grass crops struggle to a growth recovery.
“Applying organic fertiliser in these conditions will render these grass crops inedible for grazing animals, without the certainty that grazing opportunities will return over the next four weeks following applications,” Hughes added.
“These conditions will force farmers to make decisions that are not in the best interest of their farms or their animals and will not help to reduce the impact of the current reductions in winter feed supplies that have already been well documented by [the] department and by Teagasc.”
The FCI is calling on both departments to combine the use of technology, research, and advisory resources that are available today, to give scientific measurements in real-time of regional grass growth rates, soil temperatures, soil moisture levels and modern weather forecasting to deliver practical advice to farmers and agricultural contractors indicating when optimum conditions are present for the application of organic fertilisers.
The association is calling for the two ministers make an immediate announcement of an extension for 15 days, until October 15, for the application of organic fertilisers, across all farms. The FCI is also asking that such an announcement is not made “24 hours before the October 1 deadline, as this will not solve a problem, but add to it”.
On the 14-day cultivation rule for tillage farmers, the FCI said that the application of this rule is not practical in circumstances where crops have to be harvested against the background of unfavourable harvesting weather.
The FCI is calling on Minister McConalogue to allow for an extended period of time for agricultural contactors and farmers to complete the shallow cultivation measure required post-harvest of certain tillage crops.
The association wants the current 14-day period extended to 28 for all crops this seasons.
Hughes said: “Our FCI members are expected to provide combine harvesting with baling followed by crop sowing, with the need for a hedge management season that starts a month too late, with organic fertiliser management in a tighter application season.”