The Department of Agriculture has insufficient data to process the new nitrates banding rules being introduced in January, it has emerged.

While the Department has visibility on cow numbers through the Animal Identification and Movement (AIMS) database, it does not have any visibility on milk production and therefore cannot assign individual herds to different nitrate bands based on milk yield per cow.

Both cow numbers and milk yield data is held by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), but it cannot share this data with a third party unless the farmer gives it permission to do so.

Option

To get around this, the Irish Farmers Journal understands that one option being considered by the Department is to assign all herds to the top band of 106kg N/cow, which is for herds producing more than 6,500kg per cow per year.

Farmers producing less milk per cow and who should be in a lower band would therefore need to prove this to the Department by supplying them with their milk data.

Meanwhile, a number of dairy farmers have contacted the Irish Farmers Journal expressing their anger over the new rules.

Based on their average milk yields per cow in 2020, 2021 and 2022, they will be classed as being in the high band for 2023 and will have to reduce cow numbers or lease extra land to comply with the new measure.

Middle band

They argue that if they reduce meal feeding rates and/or dry off earlier, they will fall into the middle band, but that, because banding is based on a three-year rolling average, it could be 2024 or 2025 before the herd will be classed as being in the middle band.

They claim that they have had insufficient time to prepare for the new rules, with the decision to use a three-year average only made this summer, after cows had passed peak milk production.