This year, thankfully, the weather has not forced farmers to house cattle early. Most secured an extra month of grazing due to the mild weather and good grazing conditions.

Even though cattle have been out grazing for longer and slurry storage facilities have not been under much pressure, adequate facilities still have to be in place.

To comply with cross compliance, you must ensure that there is enough slurry/dung capacity for the prohibited spreading period.

The Department has a help sheet on its website for farmers to calculate if they have the required capacity for the winter.

To calculate capacity requirements, you must first quantify the amount of slurry and soil water produced on the farm.

This varies, depending on the age and type of animal. Farmers in different areas of the country will have different storage requirements. For example, farmers with bovines in Galway will need storage for 18 weeks whereas farmers in Cork require 16 weeks of storage capacity.

Once you calculate the volume of slurry and soiled water produced, you must calculate the capacity of the covered and uncovered tanks. If capacity is less than slurry produced, then you may not be complying with regulations.

The Department says if you do not have enough slurry storage capacity, one way of dealing with the problem is by having straw bedding or other absorbent bedding material.

Other ways of addressing the storage deficit include building extra storage, by renting storage capacity off your own holding, by reducing your livestock numbers down to what you have enough storage for, or by out-wintering in a way that meets the requirements of the regulations.

Some farmers may need less storage capacity if cattle (except dairy cows) or sheep are out-wintered during the full prohibited spreading period and are under certain stocking rates (130kg N/ha for sheep or 85kg N/ha for cattle).

Farmers should be aware that certain TAMS II investments will require the nitrates status of the farm. If an application is sent in and it is found that a holding is not nitrates compliant, it may result in a query on your BPS.