It is now over two weeks since the hedge-cutting season got underway and many farmers are taking advantage of good ground conditions to tidy up hedges before weather deteriorates and ground conditions become unworkable.
The cutting of hedgerows on all farms is restricted between March 1 and August 31, every year, under the Wildlife Act..
From September 1, to the last day of February, farmers cut back the year’s hedge growth to help maintain a stock-proof hedge that provides shelter to livestock as well as a habitat for willdlife.
Farmers who wish to avail of a nitrates derogation must comply with specific additional requirements regarding hedgerow maintenance activity.
These additional requirements are set out in the terms and conditions for the nitrates derogation 2022.
Farmers who are availing of the nitrates derogation must include at least one biodiversity measure from two options taken from the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
The options are as follows:
- Leave at least one mature Whitethorn/Blackthorn tree within each hedgerow;
- Hedgerows shall be maintained on a minimum three-year cycle i.e. cut in rotation rather than all at once as this will ensure some areas of hedgerows on the farm will always flower.
This is among a range of measures derogation farmers have to currently undertake.
Other measures include: Adopting a farm-scale liming programme; using low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment; reducing the crude protein in concentrate feed for grazing livestock to a maximum of 16%; and incorporating clover into newly reseeded swards.
Participant farmers must also exclude commonage/rough grazing from the derogation allowance of 250kg nitrogen/ha.
In addition, derogation farmers must participate in grassland management requirements including grass measuring and annual grass production recording.
For participant farmers who don’t have the required skills to undertake this measure, they must participate in grassland management training.
A total of 6,814 farmers applied to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for a nitrates derogation in 2021.