After immense flooding this year, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has said that farmers should ensure that soil conditions are suitable for the application of soiled water.
The minister said that the weather forecast must be suitable for the application of soiled water without any risk of run-off.
The relevant buffer margins from water bodies must also be maintained, according to Minister McConalogue.
“If a farmer has any concerns that the content of a flooded slurry store may not be soiled water, they should contact their local authority prior to taking any action,” Minister McConalogue said.
As part of the new nitrates programme, closed periods for spreading came in to effect last year. Soiled water can be spread up to December 9, 2023 and then spread again after January 1, 2024.
The storage requirement will increase from 21 days to 31 days in December 2024. Farmers supplying liquid or winter milk will have a further year to meet the 31 day requirement.
Teagasc have provided tips to reduce soiled water:
- Scrape yards instead of washing, where possible;
- Reduce the soiled area. For example, by confining cows leaving the parlour to a drafting chute. Holding yards where cows are held for AI will be clean for most of the year and any clean runoff should be diverted away from tanks where appropriate;
- Switch from a high-volume low-pressure washer, typically having an output of 182L/minute of water to a low volume (45L/minute) medium pressure washer.
The storage requirement is for the cow numbers milked at peak during the year and does not relate to the numbers milked during December, according to Teagasc.
While farmers still have some time to continue the spreading of soiled water, the minister has warned that “there will be no excuse for people found spreading slurry in breach of the regulations”.