The Department of Agriculture issued 1,557 letters to non-derogation farmers who breached the 170kg N/ha stocking rate limit in 2023.

Farmers issued with these letters face scheme payment penalties of between 1% and 60%, depending on the level of the breach and whether they had previous nitrates non-compliances.

A stocking rate limit of 170kg organic N/ha applies to non-derogation farmers after correctly declared slurry exports have been accounted for.

Some of those contacted by the Department were flagged up as having stocking rates above 401kg N/ha, while 36% were found with more marginal breaches of between 1kg to 11kg N/ha above their stocking rate limit.

The “vast majority” of penalties notified to farmers in these letters are “relatively low” and further letters will issue in tranches as checks regarding other groups of farmers are completed, the Department told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Compliance checks regarding stocking rate limits can only take place after year-end when the Department has full-year figures to assess.

“The letter that issued advised farmers of their breach, the associated penalty that will apply to their direct payments, and other area-based payments as appropriate, as well as the appeals procedure they can follow if they believe the identified non-compliance is incorrect,” the Department said.

These farmers also received information on ways of reducing their nitrates levels on a per-hectare basis to facilitate “improved future compliance and reducing the risk of the loss of agricultural nutrients to water”.

Some of those who received penalty notices may have been deemed non-compliant on foot of submitting incomplete or late documentation, such as the paperwork necessary for slurry exports and land rental or temporary grazing agreements.

The Agricultural Appeals Office reduced the severity of the penalties handed down for some of these paper non-compliances in past years when farmers successfully argued their case.