The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has told Agriland he is "really concerned" about Ireland's nitrates derogation.

Francie Gorman addressed the Kerry IFA county executive meeting at the Rose Hotel in Tralee last evening (Tuesday, October 28) where he spoke on a wide range of issues, including the retention of the derogation.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Kerry TD, Michael Healy-Rae.

The nitrates derogation allows farmers to exceed the standard limit of 170kg of livestock manure nitrogen per hectare (kg N/ha) up to a maximum of 220kg or 250kg N/ha, while adhering to stricter rules to protect water quality.

The current derogation is due to expire at year-end and securing an extension is a key government priority.

Nitrates derogation

The IFA will hold a national meeting on the retention of the nitrates derogation in Corrin Mart, Fermoy, Co. Cork next Monday (November 3) at 7:30p.m.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon is due to address the meeting.

"We want everybody, young and old, the next generation of farmers who are coming home to farm, to come to that meeting and outline to the minister for agriculture, who will be our guest speaker on the night, why the derogation is so important to them.

"It really is becoming crunch time now and decisions are going to be taken in Brussels," Gorman said.

The IFA president believes the decision to be taken on the derogation will be the most important taken on dairy since the abolition of milk quotas.

He will urge Minister Heydon and his department to engage with the stakeholders' group, including farm organisations and industry groups, and "come forward with a plan that's going to be workable at farm level".

"It was a key ask in the Programme for Government that we would have a water quality committee chaired by the Taoiseach," Gorman added.

"To be fair, I have spoken with him [Taoiseach Micheál Martin] on a number of occassions during the summer and he has put his name behind our campaign to hold onto it.

"He's been in touch with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and that has fed through into DG ENVI beyond in Brussels.

"We have put an amount of effort in at farm level in trying to improve water quality. I think if you look at the longer picture, the trend is positive. That needs to be taken into account.

"It's not just about that, it's also about the economic survivability of farms here in this country," he said.

The IFA president believes the visit of European Commissioner for the Environment Jessika Roswell to Ireland on Friday, November 7 is "a positive development".

Minister Martin Heydon previously said that the purpose of the visit would be to "view first-hand the collaborative work being done" by the agri-food sector on improving water quality.