Teagasc has updated its Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) online system to reflect proposed changes under the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP).
Last week, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue outlined several proposals as part of the interim review of the NAP, including:
- Changes to nutrient excretion rates for young cattle;
- Recognising the impact of reducing crude protein in concentrates fed to dairy cows;
- Changes to maximum chemical nitrogen (N) allowances for grassland.
The minister said that these proposed measures will apply at year end when determining farmer compliance with nitrates limits for 2024.
He also proposed a reduced timeframe of four days for farmers to report livestock manure movements to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
This will be rolled out in the coming weeks allowing farmers sufficient time to declare any movements of manure that have already taken place in 2024.
Nutrient Management Plan
Following that announcement, Teagasc has today (Wednesday, March 6) issued advisors with an update on its NMP online system which is viewable to anyone who wishes to view the changes.
It said that the nutrient excretion and crude protein changes will be developed and incorporated into the system as more information emerges from DAFM and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
It noted that these changes will only apply to 2024 stocking rate calculations.
Therefore, the only changes currently made to the NMP online system focus on the proposal in relation to the reduced maximum chemical N allowances for grassland.
Teagasc said that the proposed reduction of 5% to the maximum grassland chemical N will mean that farmers with certain grassland stocking rates will have lower chemical N/ha limits.
The changes, outlined in the following table, will now appear for all new and existing 2024 NMPs:
Teagasc also informed advisors that Agricultural Practice 3 under the eco-scheme which relates to the limiting of chemical N usage is reduced for 2024.
This change has been built into the online system for this year’s plans.
The following table outlines how the changes will apply to farmers’ application rate of chemical N based on their grassland stocking rate:
