Delays in the progress of the Department of Agriculture’s pilot soil sampling programme have seen some farmers accepted into the scheme spreading lime, fertiliser or slurry on ground intended to be sampled under the project, according to the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

The IFA’s environment chair Paul O’Brien stated that because of these January applications, many farmers accepted into the scheme have had to pay for soil sampling outside of the programme, to get fields sampled before they apply.

“Due to delays in soil sampling, some farmers who were accepted in December have taken the decision to press ahead with lime and slurry applications, which makes sampling over the coming weeks pointless,” O’Brien said

“Owing to the delays in implementation, many of the farmers who were initially accepted into the programme have been forced to complete soil sampling at their own expense,” he claimed.

As only 7,800 farmers were accepted out of 15,800 who applied, the IFA added that it believed the programme was “significantly underfunded”.

Climate action

The IFA’s environment chair went on to say that there has never been a more important time for farmers to test soils, when high fertiliser prices are combined with the need for climate action.

“If the Department is serious about encouraging farmers to embrace climate action, this is not the way to do it. At a time when fertiliser prices have reached unprecedented levels, the need for timely soil sampling has never been more important,” he said.

“Soil sampling and analysis will play an important future role in managing soils in an environmentally sustainable way. However, any future schemes must be better designed and have the practical realities of day-to-day farming in mind,” O’Brien added.