With the arrival of the new year, the reopening of the slurry spreading season is fast approaching for Zones 'A' and 'B'.

The restricted period for spreading soiled water lifted on Thursday, January 1, which means that milk suppliers can begin emptying water tanks when conditions allow.

Within the regulations, soiled water does not include any liquid with a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) exceeding 2,500mg/L, or a dry matter (DM) content exceeding 1% (10 g/L).

The opening date for spreading slurry will depend on the county that the farm is located in.

Counties in the Republic of Ireland are split into three zones: zone A, zone B and zone C.

The counties in each of the three zones are as follows:

Farmers in Zone A will be permitted to spread organic fertiliser (both slurry and farm yard manure) from Tuesday, January 13 of this year.

Farmers in Zone B will be permitted to spread organic fertilisers from Friday, January 16.

Finally, farmers in Zone C will be permitted to spread organic fertiliser from Sunday, February 1.

The table below outlines the storage periods for cattle manure and the prohibited periods for spreading both chemical and organic fertilisers to land:

Before deciding to spread slurry, farmers should ensure ground conditions and forecasted weather conditions are suitable to do so.

The prohibited application period for chemical fertilisers ends on:

Monday, January 26 in Zone A;
Thursday, January 29 in Zone B;
Saturday, February 14 in Zone C.

With the arrival of the slurry spreading season fast approaching, now is a good time if farmers have not already done so to check machines are in safe working order and all safety guards are in place.

Slurry mixing and spreading are both dangerous jobs on farms, and all necessary precautions should be taken to avoid the risk of injury or death when working with slurry.