Nitrates derogation applications have fallen for a third consecutive year and are now at the lowest number received by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine since 2015, the department has revealed.
Confirming the news to AgriLand, a spokesperson for the department said:
“There are 6,494 applications for Nitrates Derogation 2020 received as of Friday, May 1.
“This is a reduction of 3% on the 2019 number of applications – some 6,684.
“The validation checks for the 2019 nitrates derogation which includes the submission of fertiliser accounts will now commence,” the representative added.
The past three years have seen successive reductions in the number of applications received from a peak in 2017 of 6,995 applications, reducing by 98 submissions in 2018, followed by a drop of 213 last year. This decrease has accelerated further this year, with 266 less applications received.
A key factor in the reductions seen this year is likely to have been the strict new measures, following a review of the derogation’s conditions last year.
- Adopt a farm-scale liming programme;
- Use low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment for all slurry spread after April 15, 2020;
- Reduce the crude protein in concentrate feed for grazing livestock, with a maximum of 16% crude protein permissible between April 1 and September 15, 2020;
- Exclude commonage/rough grazing from the derogation allowance of 250kg N/ha;
- Participate in an approved environmental training course by the end of 2021;
- Participate in grassland management requirements from 2020, which include, grass measuring and annual grass production recording. Alternatively, if derogation farmers haven’t the required skills to undertake this measure, they must participate in grassland management training – which must be completed by the end of 2021;
- Incorporate clover in any newly reseeded swards;
- Adopt at least one measure from the All-Island Pollinator Plan (AIPP) in order to enhance biodiversity on farms.
The measures came into play on January 1, 2020. The window for applications for this year’s derogation closed on Friday, April 24.