The potential complete loss of the nitrates derogation from Ireland, is far more significant for farm profitability than the recent drop to 220kg of organic nitrogen (N)/ha.
Speaking at the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) meeting in Co. Cavan on Monday, January 22, Dr. Joe Patton, head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer with Teagasc spoke about the nitrates derogation challenge facing Irish dairy farmers.
Patton said that a drop from 220kg/ha to 170kg/ha would be much more significant than the drop from 250kg/ha to 220kg/ha.
He outlined the current situation in terms of water quality in Irish rivers and what impact weather has on the leaking of nitrates into watercourses.
But Patton said that practice will trump the impact of dropping from 250kg of organic nitrogen (N)/ha to 220kg of organic N/ha.
“The practices at farm level, will have a bigger effect on water quality, than the drop in the maximum stocking rate under the derogation,” he explained.
“Now we are not saying that because we are arguing for a return to 250kg – that is not within our gift.”
He said that Teagasc can only produce the figures but that the decisions which are subsequently made are out of its control.
“But, what we are saying is, don’t expect water quality to change because we have dropped to 220kg.”
Patton explained that if nothing else changes, there will not be an improvement in water quality – unless the management of nutrient on farms is changed.
Nitrates
Although the drop in the maximum stocking rate under the derogation to 220kg of organic N/ha poses a significant challenge to farmers, a further drop in the organic stocking rates of farms poses a much more significant challenge.
Patton explained: “There is a massive difference between the drop from 250kg to 220kg and any further drop.
“A 30kg drop versus a 50kg drop are two very different things, the reason for that is quite simple.
“When you look at a lot of farms that are stocked at 250kg and above, that requires up to and over 15t of dry matter (DM) growth to sustain that without purchasing silage.
“In our estimations there is about 3-5% of farms that are capable to grow enough grass to sustain themselves at 250kg of organic N.
“But, lots of farms can feed themselves at 220kg,” he said.
He noted that in some cases the stocking rate dropping from 250kg to 220kg on farms would remove the need to purchase forage to maintain that stocking rate.
But that a drop to 170kg of organic N would remove the competitive advantage of our grass-based dairy model, according to the Teagasc representative.
Patton said: “When you drop the farm’s stocking rate from 220kg back to 170kg, you are now dropping the stocking rate below the growth capacity of the farm.
“You will then have a situation where you are growing forage and you don’t have the demand to actually turn it into something you can sell and that is a big difference.
“The threat to profitability is only starting; that drop from 220kg back would make a massive difference, it should not be considered the same as the drop from 250kg to 220kg.
“Obviously that means we have to do everything we can to improve water quality.”