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Niamh Smyth, Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, is the latest TD to call for Minister of Agriculture Michael Creed to extend the slurry spreading deadline.
She is the third TD, after Fianna Fáíl’s agricultural spokesman Charlie McConologue and Martin Kenny of Sinn Féin, to make such a request.
"I understand the importance of the Nitrates Directive, however I would like Minister Creed to talk to his European counterparts and explore the possibility of extending the deadline for farmers who have been severely impacted by the summer rainfall.
“Some farmers have had to house their livestock for weeks on end and the poor ground conditions have severely limited their opportunities to spread slurry. This has left many of these farmers with full tanks on the cusp of the deadline.
“I am urging Minister Creed to take these exceptional cases into account and consider extending the October 15th deadline for them," Deputy Smyth said.
Wet weather has up to this point prevented farmers from spreading slurry and there is mounting concern within the farming community as the deadline approaches.
Many parts of the country have been experiencing extremely wet weather, with Met Éireann reporting that Malin Head in Co. Donegal experienced it’s wettest day since 1955 on 22 August, with 77.2mm of rainfall in one day.
Drier
Met Éireann has forecast that there will be some dry spells this week, with rainfall expected to be below average in most areas in the country.
However, the above average rainfall up to now will make spreading slurry difficult for farmers and increase the risk of damaging land going into the winter period.
No extension
Up to now the Department of Agriculture has ruled out an extension to the deadline but it is hoped that they may introduce a case-by-case extension for farmers, similar to the type of extension made last year.
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