Land all over Ireland is too wet to take slurry, Met Éireann says. All land is currently saturated, and requires drying. Rainfall warnings for Munster and Galway forecast up to 40mm of rain for Wednesday night. Further heavy rain is forecast for Friday and Sunday. While slurry spreading is permissible from Saturday in Zone A, and Tuesday in Zone B, the weather needs to improve fast with tanks close to full across the country.
Land all over Ireland is too wet to take slurry, Met Éireann says. All land is currently saturated, and requires drying. Rainfall warnings for Munster and Galway forecast up to 40mm of rain for Wednesday night. Further heavy rain is forecast for Friday and Sunday.
While slurry spreading is permissible from Saturday in Zone A, and Tuesday in Zone B, the weather needs to improve fast with tanks close to full across the country.
Farmers have been moving slurry locally from tank to tank, but spare capacity is scarce. Low ground pressure systems, particularly umbilical spreaders, are in high demand.
Slurry penalties
Six farmers had their 2017 BPS applications cut for spreading slurry in the closed period, Department of Agriculture figures show. This figure is down from 11 farmers in 2016.
The penalties ranged from 5% to 20%. The Department said 2017 inspections are being finalised and the outcome of reviews and appeals are processed.
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Avalanche of slurry movement submissions
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