The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is seeking clarity on a new proposal from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) regarding a nutrient use surplus.
The DAFM put forward a proposal to implement a nutrient use surplus concept for farmers under the nitrates regulations at a meeting of the Agriculture Water Quality Group.
Deputy president of the ICMSA, Eamon Carroll said that the department must spell out clearly how this system is going to work, how complex will it be for farmers, and who will pay the cost of it.
Carroll said that those questions will have to be answered with the proviso that any proposals to deliver water quality improvements allow farmers to farm at an economically sustainable level.
Nutrient Use Surplus
The ICMSA representative expressed deep concern that the department’s proposal could merely function as another “box-ticking exercise” that could place more requirements on farmers and cost them money to implement, without making a positive contribution to water quality.
“This is why ICMSA asked several questions at the meeting, and it is essential that the department provides the requested detail so that informed decisions can be made on whether the system has merit or not,” Carroll stated.
“We can be very frank here; ICMSA will not support such a system if the department cannot bring forward evidence of its effectiveness.”
The ICMSA deputy president claimed that for too long, the department has brought forward measures all placing more requirements on farmers without any evidence of fact-checking.
He said that the situation is far too important and the department “owes farmers an explanation and justification” for these kinds of proposals.
“It’s unacceptable that the department [is] holding up other measures that have already been agreed and would assist farmers by insisting now – at this late stage – that this measure is introduced or, failing that, that farmers would have to take another 5% reduction in chemical nitrogen,” he continued.
“We cannot continue to load rules on farmers without giving them the necessary support to implement existing rules – including the better utilisation of Nutrient Management Plans.
“Introducing a nutrient use surplus at this stage looks like reaching for another untried and untested tool without ever utilising the measures we already have.”
He said that ICMSA supports measures that will improve water quality, but the farm organisation would not support measures that are “unjustified while adding cost and more bureaucracy” onto hard-pressed farmers.
“We desperately we need to get to a stage where the right measures are used in the right place at the right time,” he continued.
“We keep going for this blanket approach based on restrictions and costs and so far from helping, it’s actually doing nothing for water quality but penalising farmers.”