The government has updated Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme (NAP), which is not only very specific about the impact of nitrates on water quality, but now puts a strong focus on the management of stubble ground, post harvest.
New rules address the benefits of creating green cover in freshly harvested fields, thereby diverting nitrates into new crop growth.
This has created a lot of discussion among tillage farmers, specifically on how these new rules could be best implemented.
And, a lot of background work has been carried out to provide answers and clarity on what is now required.
Teagasc’s Michael Hennessy discussed these matters with Ted Massey, who heads up the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM’s) nitrates division, on a recent issue of the Tillage Edge podcast.
According to the DAFM representative, the NAP sets out to reduce nutrient losses to water from agricultural activity.
He added:
“It’s a four-year initiative and the current Nitrates Action Programme was finalised in March of this year.
“But at that stage we were aware that we would need to look at the issue of shallow cultivation again.
“Important within this is the need to provide space for nature and the specific role played by farmland birds,” he said.
Massey explained that a planned amendment to the NAP was recently introduced, where these matters are concerned.
“And other amendments will follow as we go through the programme,” he said.
In part, the nitrates programme imposes a legal requirement on farmers, courtesy of regulations.
However, other aspects of the programme constitute what is regarded as good farming practices.
Advice on these matters is available from Teagasc.
“Issues relating to shallow cultivation have been set down in regulation, making these matters mandatory in nature for those farmers that are affected,” said Massey.
“The aim is to improve water quality as quickly as possible, and in this context the ‘N+1 rule’ kicks in.
“In other words, it is the year after a specific action is taken that we will see an impact on water quality.”
He continued:
“Where shallow cultivation is concerned, our aim is to reduce the leaching of nitrogen from the soil.
“So we are talking about diffuse pollution. This is entirely different in nature to the direct pollution caused by a leakage of silage effluent.”