Tough slurry rules could cost farmers €35m

Farmers will need to cut splash-plate slurry spreading, cover outdoor slurry tanks and lagoons and use all protected urea if the Government’s draft air pollution control programme is implemented.

The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has put the proposed measures out for public consultation until 5 July.

The Department suggests that 42% of beef farmers should adopt trailing hoses and 100% of dairy and pig farmers trailing shoes. Changes in pig feeding and poultry manure management are also recommended.

Sunshine

Slurry exposure to sunshine increases ammonia emissions and shifting summer spreading to earlier in the spring could achieve cuts.

“This measure can also be extended to altered time of day application (ie evening spreading) as there is evidence that this can reduce emissions by 20%. The main challenge associated with this measure is verification,” the draft programme outlines.

Under EU law, Ireland must bring down its emissions of ammonia, a harmful gas for human health, to 107,629t/year by 2030. They are currently forecast to rise to 128,690t instead, coming almost entirely from agriculture, mostly slurry.

The measures “under consideration” are based on a 2015 Teagasc study estimating their full cost at €35.6m for farmers, targeting low-emission technologies to contractor-spread slurry first.

In an update this year, Teagasc calculated the measures could achieve annual ammonia cuts of 16,548t by 2030, still falling short of the 21,000t required to meet EU obligations.

IFA environment chair Thomas Cooney said some measures would be “unrealistic” given the variety of slurry storage and weather conditions around the country.

“You would need grant aid” for the expensive equipment required, he added.

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