NI : Phasing in 'closed period' for slurry

By James Campbell

A period of grace has been built into the new Nitrates and Phosphorus regulations in Northern Ireland, which will allow some farmers to spread organic manure during the so-called ‘closed period' in January 2007 if weather and soil conditions are satisfactory. This does not apply to farms that already have sufficient storage - they are expected to avoid spreading slurry for the whole of January, even if the weather is favourable.

The phasing in applies to farmers who do not yet have the slurry storage in place that is required by the new regulations (26 weeks storage for pig and poultry farms or 22 weeks for other livestock farms). The conditions under which slurry may be spread are those of "good farming practice'' which requires that the land is not frozen, snow covered, waterlogged, flooded or liable to flood and that there is no forecast that heavy rainfall will occur during the next 48 hours.

The slurry must be applied close to the ground by inverted splashplate, band spreading with trailing shoe or trailing hose, soil injection or soil incorporation methods. Sludgigators and upward facing splashplates are not permitted.

In addition, farmers must apply all necessary measures to prevent pollution to the environment.

The closed period applies from whenever the required storage capacity is in place on farm. Farmers have until 31 December 2008 at the latest to have the required storage capacity in place. Therefore the closed period will apply to all from 1 January 2009.

This means that the "phasing in'' dispensation is being extended for the closed period that runs from 15 October 2007 to 31 January 2008 for any farmers who have still to install the required storage at that time. If you have the storage installed before October 2007 you are expected to use it.

The Nitrates and Phosphorus Regulations which officially come into effect on 1 January 2007 include measures about the timing and amount of artificial fertilizers applied that will apply to all farmers in Northern Ireland (no phasing in period) as indicated in last week's Farmers Journal.

Soil analysis

Under these regulations, chemical phosphorus (phosphate fertilizer) can only be applied where there is a requirement (ie. the crop needs more P than is available in the soil). On most farms chemical phosphorus can be eliminated with no loss to productivity due to the levels of phosphorus present in the soil.

Analysis of a soil sample will establish whether or not there is a need to apply chemical phosphorus. The results of analysis must be retained for record keeping purposes.

For further information on soil analysis contact Countryside Management staff at your local DARD office.